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Confederate 

\ 

Military History 


a library of confederate 
states history, in twelve 
volumes, written by distin¬ 
guished MEN OF THE SOUTH, 
AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT 

A. EVANS OF GEORGIA. 

\ * 


VOL. IV. 


<*- 7 * 


Atlanta, Ga* 

Confederate Publishing Company 

1899 

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30661 

¥ 

Copyright, 1899, 

by Confederate Publishing Company 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

CHAPTER I. First and Last—Situation in the Beginning— 
Preparing for War—The Dual Organizations of North Caro¬ 
lina Troops, State and Confederate. 5 

CHAPTER II. From Bethel to First Manassas — Fighting 
Along the Coast—Supplies of Clothing and Arms a Serious 
Difficulty. 21 

CHAPTER III. The Second Year—Burnside’s Expedition— 
Roanoke Island Lost—Battle at New Bern—South Mills and 
Fort Macon—Renewed Efforts to Raise More Troops. 32 

' CHAPTER IV. The Federal Movements Against Richmond— 
Peninsular Campaign—Dam No. 1, or Lee’s Mill—Retreat 
up the Peninsula—Williamsburg—Hanover Court House— 
Seven Pines—Jackson’s Wonderful Valley Campaign. 46 

CHAPTER V. The Great Struggle of 1862 for Richmond— 
Battles of Mechanicsville Cold Harbor, Frayser’s Farm, Mal¬ 
vern Hill—North Carolina Troops Conspicuous in all En¬ 
gagements—McClellan’s Utter Defeat by Lee. 76 

CHAPTER VI. The Campaign Against Pope—Cedar Mount¬ 
ain—Gordonsville—Warrenton—Bristoe Station—Groveton 
—Second Manassas—Chantilly, or Ox Hill—Pope Defeated 
at all Points. 92 

CHAPTER VII. Lee’s Maryland Campaign—The March to 
Frederick City—The “Lost Order’’—Mountain Battles — 
Crampton’s Gap—Boonsboro—Vigorous Skirmishing—The 
Surrender of Harper’s Ferry by the Federals—Battle of 
Sharpsburg or Antietam—First North Carolina Cavalry with 
J. E. B. Stuart in Pennsylvania. 106 

CHAPTER VIII. The Fredericksburg Campaign—Affairs in 
North Carolina—Supplies for Troops Brought by the Ad¬ 
vance—Engagements in North Carolina—Battle near Golds¬ 
boro—North Carolina Troops in the Western Army—Battles 
of Murfreesboro and Stone’s River. 133 

CHAPTER IX. North Carolina in the Beginning of 1863— 
Gathering Fresh Supplies—Demonstrations by D. H. Hill 
Against New Bern—Fights at Deep Gully and Sandy Ridge 
—Siege of Washington, N. C.—Blunt’s Mills and Gum 


Swamp. 150 

CHAPTER X. Chancellorsville—Brandy Station—Winchester 
—Berryville—Jordan Springs—Middleburg— Upperville— 
Fairfax. 156 

CHAPTER XI. The Confederate Invasion of Pennsylvania— 
Battle of Gettysburg—North Carolinians in the Three Days 
—Fighting on the Retreat—The Potomac Recrossed by Lee’s 
Army—Cavalry Fighting in Virginia during the Invasion of 
Pennsylvania. 171 


hi 













IV 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

CHAPTER XII. Defense of Charleston—North Carolinians in 
Mississippi—The Battle of Chiekamauga—East Tennessee 
Campaigning—North Carolina Cavalry in Virginia—In¬ 
fantry Engagements around Rappahannock Station—Fights 
at Kelly’s Ford, Bristoe and Payne’s Farm. 200 

CHAPTER XIII. North Carolina Events, 1S63-64—Federal 
Treatment of the Eastern Part of the State—Military Oper¬ 
ations in the State—Ransom Recovers Suffolk—Victory of 


Hoke and Cooke at Plymouth—Gallant Fighting of the 
Albemarle—Spring Campaign, 1864, in Virginia. 218 

CHAPTER XIV. The Wilderness, 1864—Grant Moves on Rich¬ 
mond—The Opening Battles of May—The “Bloody Angle’’ 

—Battle of Drewry’s Bluff—Service of North Carolina Com¬ 
mands—Hoke’s Division. 229 


CHAPTER XV. Services of the North Carolina Cavalry along 
the Rapidan—Battle of Yellow Tavern—The Second Cold 
Harbor Battle—Early’s Lynchburg and Maryland Cam¬ 
paigns—Battles in the Valley of Virginia—Activity of the 
Confederate Cavalry. 249 

CHAPTER XVI. Around Petersburg—Beauregard’s Masterly 
Defense—Lee’s Army in Place and Grant is Foiled—The 
Attempt of Grant to Blow up the Fortifications—Battle of 
the “Crater”—The Dreary Trenches—Reams’ Station — 

The Fort Harrison Assault—The Cavalry. 262 

CHAPTER XVII. The North Carolina Regiments in Ten¬ 
nessee and Georgia Campaigns, 1864—Events in North Caro¬ 
lina—Fort Fisher—The Close of the Fourth Year-North 
Carolina Troops in Army Northern Virginia. 1865—Battles 
near Petersburg—Hatcher’s Run—Fort Stedman — Appo¬ 
mattox . 273 

CHAPTER XVIII. The Last Battles in North Carolina—Gen. 

J. G. Martin’s Command—Battles with Kirk and the Federal 
Marauders—The Army under Gen. Joe Johnston—Evacua¬ 
tion of Forts—Fight at Town Creek—Engagement at Kins¬ 
ton—Battle at Averasboro—Johnston Repulses Sherman at 
Bentonville—Johnston Falls Back to Durham—Surrender.. 280 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 287 










LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Anderson, George B. 

Averasboro, Map of Battlefield.. 

Baker, Lawrence S. 

Barringer, Rufus. 

Bentonville, Map of Battlefield .. 

Branch, Lawrence O’B. 

Burnside Expedition (Map). 

Clingman, Thomas L. 

Cooke, John R. 

Cox William R. 

Daniel, Junius. 

Gatlin, Richard C. 

Gilmer, Jeremy F. 

Godwin, Atchibald C. 

Gordon, James B. 

Grimes, Bryan . 

Hill, D. H., Jr. 

Hoke, Robert F. 

Johnston, Robert D. 

Kirkland, W. W. 

Lane, James H . 

Leventhorpe, Callett. 

Lewis, William G. 

McRae, William. 

Martin, James G. 

New Bern, Battlefield of (Map).. 
New Bern to Goldsboro (Map).... 

North Carolina, Map of. 

Pender, William D. 

Pettigrew, James J... 

Rains, Gabriel J. 

Ramseur, Stephen D. 

Ransom, Matthew W.. 

Ransom, Robert, Jr. 

Roberts, William P. 

Scales, Alfred M. 

Toon, Thomas F. 

Vance, Robert B. 

Wilmington, N. C., Front of (Map) 
Whiting, William H, C. 


facing page. 

. 296 

. 280 

. 296 

. 206 

. 280''' 

. 3 i 7 

. 32 

.. 296 

.. 296 

. 340 

.. 296 

. 340 

. 340 

. 3 i 7 

. 34o 

. 296 


. 3 i 7 

. 296 

.. 296 

. 340 

. 340 

. 296 

. 3D 

.. 296 

. 40 

. i44 

Between pages 286 and 287 

. 3 i 7 

.340 

. 296 

.340 

. 3 i 7 

. -340 

. 317 

. 340 

. 3 i 7 

. 3 i 7 

. 276 

. 317 


v 






















































A \ 


D. H. HILL. JR 



NORTH CAROLINA 


BY 

D. H. Hill, Jr. 



\ 





PREFACE. 


I N presenting this sketch of the North Carolina troops 
in the Civil war, the author feels that, in justice to 
himself and to the heroic soldiers whose deeds it 
attempts to commemorate, some facts in connection with 
its preparation should be stated. 

The authorship of this chapter was originally assigned 
to a distinguished participant in the deeds recorded. 
He, however, after vainly striving for about a year to 
find time in which to write the sketch, was reluctantly 
forced by his engagements to relinquish the undertak¬ 
ing. Thereupon the author was invited to prepare the 
chapter. The time which the publishers could then allow 
for the collection of material and the completion of the 
manuscript necessitated more rapid work than such a 
subject merits. 

This necessity for haste especially prevented the col¬ 
lection of much-needed data about the last twelve months 
of the war. During those months the Confederate officers 
wrote very few official reports. The only way, there¬ 
fore, to get reasonably full information concerning the 
events of that period is by correspondence with the sur¬ 
vivors. This was attempted, but the time was too short 
for satisfactory results. 

The author regrets exceedingly that many gallant 
deeds and minor actions are shut out by space limitation. 
He can only hope that the publication of this imperfect 
sketch may incite other pens to more elaborate works. 
As a subsequent edition of this work may be published, 
the author asks for the correction of any errors unwit¬ 
tingly made. 


3 


4 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


He renders hearty thanks to Judge A. C. Avery for the 
use of some material that he had collected; to J udge 
Walter Clark for books, and to Col. T. S. Kenan and 
Judge Walter Montgomery and others for valuable 
counsel and sympathy. 




CHAPTER I. 


FIRST AND LAST—SITUATION IN THE BEGINNING- 
PREPARING FOR WAR—THE DUAL ORGANIZA¬ 
TIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS, STATE AND 
CONFEDERATE. 

W HEN the women of North Carolina, after years of 
unwearying effort to erect a State monument to 
the Confederate dead, saw their hopes realized in 
the beautiful monument now standing in Capitol Square, 
Raleigh, they caused to be chiseled on one of its faces 
this inscription: 


FIRST AT BETHEL: 

LAST AT APPOMATTOX. 

This terse sentence epitomizes North Carolina’s devotion 
to the Confederacy. From the hopeful ioth day of June, 
1861, when her First regiment, under Col. D. H. Hill, 
defeated, in the first serious action of the Civil war, 
General Pierce’s attack at Bethel, to the despairing 9th 
day of April, 1865, when Gen. W. R. Cox’s North Caro¬ 
lina brigade of Gen. Bryan Grimes’ division fired into 
an overwhelming foe the last volley of the army of 
Northern Virginia, North Carolina’s time, her resources, 
her energies, her young men, her old men, were cheer¬ 
fully and proudly given to the cause that she so deliber¬ 
ately espoused. 

How ungrudgingly the State gave of its resources may 
be illustrated by a few facts. Gen. J. E. Johnston is 
authority for the statement that for many months pre¬ 
vious to its surrender, General Lee’s army had been fed 
almost entirely from North Carolina, and that at the 
time of his own surrender he had collected provisions 


5 


6 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


enough from the same State to last for some months.* * * § 
The blockade steamer Advance, bought by the State, 
operated in the interest of the State, brought into the 
port of Wilmington—not counting thousands of dollars’ 
worth of industrial and agricultural supplies—“leather 
and shoes for 250,000 pairs, 50,000 blankets, cloth for 
250,000 uniforms, 2,000 Enfield rifles, with 100 rounds 
of fixed ammunition for each rifle, 500 sacks of coffee 
for the hospitals, $50,000 worth of medicines,” etc.f 
These articles were bought either from the sale of cotton 
or on the credit of the State, and were used not only by 
the State troops already mustered into the Confederate 
service, and hence having no further legal claim on the 
care of their own State, but were also distributed to 
troops from other States. In the winter succeeding 
Chickamauga, Governor Vance sent to Longstreet’s 
corps 14,000 suits of uniform complete. Maj. A. Gor¬ 
don of the adjutant-general’s office says: “The State of 
North Carolina was the only one that furnished clothing 
for its troops during the entire war, and these troops were 
better clothed than those of any other State. J” “The 
State arsenal at Fayetteville, ’’ reports Maj. M. P. Taylor,§ 
“turned out about 500 splendid rifles each month’’—this 
being after the second year of the war. Wayside hos¬ 
pitals were established in all the chief towns for the sick 
and wounded. These things and hundreds of others 
were done, not simply in the first enthusiasm of the con¬ 
test, but during the whole desperate struggle. 

How unsparingly the State gave of her sons may be 
shown by a single instance cited by Governor Vance: 

Old Thomas Carlton, of Burke county, was a good 
sample of the grand but unglorified class of men among 
us who preserve the savor of good citizenship and enno- 

* Gordon’s Organization of the Troops. 

f Vance’s address at White Sulphur Springs. 

X “ Organization of the Troops.” 

§ Article in Regimental Histories. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


7 


ble humanity. He gave not only his goods to sustain 
women and children, but gave all his sons, five in num¬ 
ber, to the cause. One by one they fell, until at length a 
letter arrived, telling that the youngest and last, the 
blue-eyed, fair-haired Benjamin of the hearth, had fallen 
also. When made aware of his desolation, he made 
no complaint, uttered no exclamation of heart-broken 
despair, but called his son-in-law, a delicate, feeble man, 
who had been discharged by the surgeons, and said, 
whilst his frail body trembled with emotion and tears 
rolled down his aged cheeks, “Get your knapsack, Wil¬ 
liam, the ranks must be filled!”* 

Every day some heart-broken mother showed the same 
spirit. 

In the agitation that pervaded the South previous to 
secession, North Carolina preserved its usual conserva¬ 
tive calmness of action. Her people, although pro 
foundly stirred and keenly alive to the gravity of the 
“impending crisis,” were loath to leave the Union 
cemented by the blood of their fathers. That retrospect¬ 
iveness which has always been one of their marked char¬ 
acteristics, did not desert them then. Recollections of 
Mecklenburg, of Moore’s Creek, of Guilford Court House 
pleaded against precipitancy in dissolving what so much 
sacrifice had built up. Even after seven of her sister 
States had adopted ordinances of secession, “her people 
solemnly declared”—by the election of the 28th of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1861—“that they desired no convention even to 
consider the propriety of secession. ’ ’ 

But after the newly-elected President’s Springfield 
speech, after the widespread belief that the Federal 
government had attempted to reinforce Sumter in the 
face of a promise to evacuate it, and especially after 
President Lincoln’s requisition on the governor to 
furnish troops for what Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, 
called “the wicked purpose of subduing sister Southern 
States,”—a requisition that Governor Jackson, of Mis- 


* Address at White Sulphur Springs. 



8 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

souri, in a superflux of unlethargic adjectives, denounced 
as “illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, 
diabolical,”—there was a rapid change in the feelings of 
the people. Strong union sentiment was changed to a 
fixed determination to resist coercion by arms if neces¬ 
sary. So rapid was the movement of public events, and 
so rapid was the revolution in public sentiment, that just 
three months after the State had refused even to consider 
the question of secession, a convention composed almost 
entirely of men who thought it was the imperative duty 
of their State to withdraw from the Union was in session 
in Raleigh. 

On May 20th, a day sacred to her citizens in that 
it marked the eighty-sixth anniversary of the colonial 
Declaration of Independence of England, the fateful 
ordinance that severed relations with the Union was 
adopted. Capt. Hamilton C. Graham gives the follow¬ 
ing account of the attendant circumstances: * 

“As a youthful soldier and eye-witness of the scene, it 
made an impression on me that time has never effaced. 
The convention then in session in Raleigh was composed 
of men famous in the history of the commonwealth. 
The city was filled with distinguished visitors from every 
part of the State and South. The first camp of instruc¬ 
tion, located near by, under command of that noble old 
hero, D. H. Hill, was crowded with the flower of the old 
military organizations of the State, and sounds of martial 
music at all hours of the day were wafted into the city. 
When the day for the final passage of the ordinance of 
secession arrived, the gallant and lamented Ramseur, 
then a major of artillery, was ordered to the Capitol 
grounds with his superb battery to fire a salute in honor 
of the event. The battery was drawn up to the left of 
the Capitol, surrounded by an immense throng of citi¬ 
zens. The convention in the hall of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives was going through the last formalities of sign¬ 
ing the ordinance. The moment the last signature was 
fixed to the important document, the artillery thundered 


* New Ben Memorial Address. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


9 


forth, every bell in the city rang a peal, the military 
band rendered a patriotic air, and with one mighty shout 
from her patriotic citizens, North Carolina proclaimed to 
the world that she had resumed her sovereignty.” 

This step meant war, and no people were ever less pre¬ 
pared for an appeal to arms. Agriculture and allied pur¬ 
suits were the almost exclusive employments. Hence, 
for manufactured articles, from linchpins to locomotives, 
from joint-stools to cotton-gins, the State was dependent 
on Northern and English markets. According to the 
census of i860, there were only 3,689 manufacturing 
establishments of all kinds in its borders, and most of 
these employed few laborers. Out of a total population 
of 992,622, only 14,217 were engaged in any sort of fac¬ 
tories. The whole industrial story is told by a few of the 
reports to the census officers. For instance, there were in 
the State, as reported by these officers, the following insig¬ 
nificant number of workers in these most important oc¬ 
cupations: In wrought iron, 129; in cast iron, 59; in 
making clothes, 12; in making boots and shoes, 176; in 
tanning leather, 93; in compounding medicines, 1. This 
was the foundation on which North Carolina, when cut 
off by the war from Northern markets and by the 
blockade from English or other foreign ports, made a 
most marvelous record of industrial progress, and devel¬ 
oped a capacity for self-support as unexpected as it was 
wonderful. 

But the State’s power to manufacture the ordinary 
articles of commerce was truly boundless when compared 
with its capacity to produce arms, equipments and the 
general munitions of war. To make uniforms for over 
100,000 soldiers, and at the same time to supply regular 
customers, there were seven small woolen mills! To 
furnish shoes, saddles, harness for the army, and also 
to keep the citizens supplied, there were ninety-three 
diminutive tanneries. The four recorded makers of 
fire arms were so reckless of consequences as combinedly 
No 2 




10 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


to employ eleven workmen and to use up annually the 
stupendous sum of $1,000 worth of raw material. The 
commonwealth was without a powder-mill, without any 
known deposits of niter, and without any supply of sul¬ 
phur. Not an ounce of lead was mined, and hardly 
enough iron smelted to shoe the horses. One of the pre¬ 
liminaries to war was to buy a machine for making per¬ 
cussion caps. Revolvers and sabers, as Col. Wharton 
Green says, “were above all price, for they could not be 
bought. ’ ’ Cartridge belts were made out of several 
thicknesses of cloth stitched together and covered with 
varnish. For the troops so freely offering themselves 
there were no arms except a few hundreds in the hands 
of local companies and those that the State had seized in 
the Fayetteville arsenal. These, according to President 
Davis,* consisted of 2,000 Enfield rifles and 25,000 old 
style, smooth-bore guns that had been changed from 
flint and steel to percussion. After these had been 
issued, the organizing regiments found it impossible for 
some time to get proper arms. Some, as the Thirty- 
first, went to the front with sporting rifles and fowling- 
pieces; some, as the Second battalion, supplemented 
their arms by borrowing from the governor of Virginia 
350 veritable flint-and-steel guns that nobody else would 
have; some organized and drilled until Manassas and 
Seven Pines turned ordnance officer and supplied them 
with the excellent captured rifles of the enemy. How¬ 
ever, after the fall of 1862 there was no difficulty in 
getting fairly effective small-arms. 

But these difficulties ixever daunted so heroic a people 
nor led them to withhold their volunteers. “None,” 
says Governor Vance,f “stood by that desperate venture 
with better faith or greater efficiency. It is a proud 
assertion which I make to-day that, so far as I have been 
able to learn, North Carolina furnished more soldiers in 

* Rise and Fall of Confederate Government. 

f Address at White Sulphur Springs. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


11 


proportion to white population, and more supplies and 
materials in proportion to her means for the support of 
the war, than any other State in the Confederacy. I 
beg you to believe that this is said, not with any spirit of 
offense to other Southern States, or of defiance toward 
the government of the United States, but simply as a 
just eulogy upon the devotion of a people to what they 
considered a duty, in sustaining a cause, right or wrong, 
to which their faith was pledged.” 

Such a military record, if the figures bear it out, is a 
proud heritage. Do figures sustain it? Adjutant and 
Inspector-General Cooper reports (probably a close esti¬ 
mate) that 600,000 men, first and last, enrolled them¬ 
selves under the Confederate flag. What proportion of 
these ought North Carolina to have furnished? The 
total white population of the eleven seceding States was 
5,441,320—North Carolina’s was 629,942, and it was third 
in white population. Hence North Carolina would have 
discharged to the letter every legal obligation resting 
upon it if it furnished 62,942 troops. What number did 
it actually supply? 

On November 19, 1864, Adjt.-Gen. R. C. Gatlin, a 
most careful and systematic officer, made an official 
report to the governor on this subject. The following 
figures, compiled from that report by Mr. John Neathery, 
give the specific information: 


Number of troops transferred to the Confederate service, 

according to original rolls on file in this office. 64,636 

Number of conscripts between ages of 18 and 45, as per 
report of Commandant of Conscripts, dated September 

30, 1864.. 18,585 

Number of recruits that have volunteered in the different 

companies since date of original rolls (compiled). 21,608 

Number of troops in unattached companies and serving in 

regiments from other States. 3,103 

Number of regular troops in State service. 3,203 


Total offensive troops. 111,135 

To these must be added: Junior reserves. 4,217 

Senior reserves. 5,686 


Total troops in active service. 121,038 












12 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Then, organized and subject to emergency service in the 
State, Home Guard and Militia. 


3 > 96 2 


Total troops, armed, equipped and mustered into 
State or Confederate service. 125,000 


From these official figures it will be seen that, estimat¬ 
ing the offensive troops alone, North Carolina exceeded 
her quota 41,715 men. Including the Junior and Senior 
reserves, who did active duty in garrison, guarding pris¬ 
oners, and on occasion good fighting, the State exceeded 
its quota by 51,618. Taking all, it went over its quota 
by the large sum of 55,580! This number of troops far 
exceeded the State’s voting population. The highest 
vote ever cast was in the Ellis-Pool campaign. The 
total vote in that election was 112,586. Hence, even 
leaving out the Home Guards, North Carolina sent to 
the Confederate armies 8,452 more men than ever voted 
at one of its elections. 

Another remarkable proof of the State’s brave devo¬ 
tion to the Confederacy is noteworthy in this connection. 
As shown by the census of i860, the total number of 
men in North Carolina between the ages of 20 and 60, 
the extreme limits of military service, was 128,889. Sub¬ 
tract from this number the number of troops furnished, 
and it reveals the extraordinary fact that in the whole of 
North Carolina there were only 3,889 men subject to 
military duty who were not in some form of martial 
service. Most of these 3,889 were exempted because 
they were serving the State, in civil capacity, as magis¬ 
trates, county officers, dispensers of public food, etc. 
So, practically, every man in the State was serving the 
State or the Confederacy. It may well be doubted 
whether a more striking evidence of public devotion 
was every recorded. 

In April, 1861, it became apparent that a peaceful 
arbitrament of existing difficulties was hardly possible, 
so the authorities began to organize the troops. The 
regiments, offering themselves in hot haste, were organ- 





CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


13 


izedunder two separate laws: First, those that organized 
under the old law of the State, through Adjt.-Gen. John 
F. Hoke’s office, were called “Volunteers;” second, 
those that organized for the war under the act of the 
May convention were called “State Troops.” 

The “Volunteers” were the first to begin mobilization; 
for on the 17th of April, a month before the secession 
convention, Governor Ellis, seeing that some sort of 
struggle was inevitable, had called for volunteers. The 
companies responding to this call were, in accordance 
with the usual routine, placed in camps of instruction to 
be armed, equipped and drilled. The first camp was 
pitched in Raleigh, and Governor Ellis invited Maj. 
D. H. Hill, of Charlotte, to take command of it. Major 
Hill was a West Pointer and a veteran of the Mexican 
war. To the raw volunteers, unused to any restrictions, 
as well as to the men accustomed to the laxity of militia 
methods, he seemed, as Judge McRae expressed it, “a 
tremendous disciplinarian.” But, adds the Judge, in 
speaking of the effect of his discipline on the first body 
organized there, “As a proof of the value of the training, 
the old First (on its disbandment at the expiration of its 
term of enlistment) sent scores, I might almost say hun¬ 
dreds, of officers into other commands. ” From the mate¬ 
rial assembled at Raleigh, the First regiment was soon 
formed and hurried away to Virginia under Major Hill, 
whom it elected colonel. Then, says Major Gordon, 
whose excellent article on the “Organization of the 
Troops” furnishes many of these facts, “the Second, 
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh soon followed. 
The first six were sent to Virginia, the Seventh to 
Hatteras. ” These regiments were under the following 
colonels: Solomon Williams, W. D. Pender, Junius 
Daniel, R. M. McKinney, Stephen Lee and W. F. Martin. 
However, many of them were soon reorganized. Be¬ 
tween the 15th of June and the 18th of July, the Eighth, 
Colonel Radcliffe; the Tenth, Colonel Iverson; the 


14 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Eleventh, Colonel Kirkland; the Twelfth, Colonel Pet¬ 
tigrew; the Thirteenth, Colonel Hoke; the Fourteenth, 
Colonel Clarke, were organized. It will be noticed that 
no Ninth regiment is included in these fourteen. There 
was some controversy about the officers of this regi¬ 
ment, and this number was subsequently given to Spru¬ 
ill’s cavalry legion. These were the regiments that after¬ 
ward had their numbers changed by ten: i. e., instead 
of retaining their numbers from one to fourteen, as organ¬ 
ized, they were changed to number from eleven to twen¬ 
ty-four. The First volunteer regiment, hence, became 
the Eleventh, and so through the series of fourteen. 

Coincident with the formation of many of these volun¬ 
teer regiments, ten other regiments were organizing. 
The convention had directed Governor Ellis to raise ten 
regiments for the war. These were to be designated as 
“State troops,’’and were to be numbered from one to 
ten. The Ninth regiment was to be cavalry, and the 
Tenth, artillery. Major Gordon says, an adjutant-gen¬ 
eral and other staff officers were authorized for these 
troops. Maj. J. G. Martin, on his arrival at Raleigh, 
after his resignation from the United States army, was 
appointed by the governor adjutant-general of this corps. 
This office soon became one of the utmost importance. 
Col. John F. Hoke, the regular adjutant-general, having 
resigned to accept the colonelcy of the Thirteenth vol¬ 
unteers, the duties of both these offices were consoli¬ 
dated under Major Martin. More important still, “the 
legislature conferred upon him all the military powers 
of the State, subject to the orders of the governor. It 
consolidated under him the adjutant-general, quarter¬ 
master-general, ordnance and pay departments.’’* The 
man thus trusted was a one-armed veteran of the Mex¬ 
ican war, a rigid disciplinarian, thoroughly trained in 
office work, and not only systematic but original in 
his plans. The State has never fully appreciated, 


* Organization of the Troops. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


15 


perhaps never known, the importance of the work done 
for it by this undemonstrative, thoroughly efficient 
officer. 

Under Martin’s supervision the ten regiments of “State 
troops’’ and all subsequent regiments were organized. 
The first six regiments, commanded respectively by Cols. 
M. S. Stokes, C. C. Tew, Gaston Meares, George B. 
Anderson, D. K. McRae, and Charles F. Fisher, were in a 
short while transferred to the Confederacy and ordered 
to Virginia, three of them arriving there in time to be 
present at the first battle of Manassas. The Seventh, 
Col. R. P. Campbell, was, after some delay, sent to New 
Bern; and the Eighth, on its completion, went to garri¬ 
son Roanoke island. The Ninth was a cavalry regiment 
formed by Col. Robert Ransom. There were many 
exasperating delays in getting this regiment equipped. 
Horses were scarce, and Major Gordon says that neither 
the State nor the Confederate States could furnish sad¬ 
dles or sabers. Saddles were at last found in New 
Orleans, and Spruill’s legion, on the promise of being 
furnished later, generously gave up its sabers. While still 
ill-fitted for active service, this regiment joined General 
Johnston near Manassas. The Tenth regiment was 
composed of five batteries of light artillery and five of 
heavy. J. J. Bradford was its first colonel, but the reg¬ 
iment was, in the nature of things, always scattered. 
The equipping of this regiment was slow and trying. 
The first battery ready was a magnificent body of men, 
and was armed with the light guns seized in the Fayette¬ 
ville arsenal—the only complete battery in the State. It 
elected Lieut. S. D. Ramseur first captain; on,his pro¬ 
motion it was commanded by Basil C. Manly, and then 
by B. B. Guion. The next was Reilly’s hard-fighting 
Rowan light battery This battery was equipped with 
guns captured at Manassas. After Reilly’s promo¬ 
tion to major, Capt. John A. Ramsey commanded it 
to the end of the war. Capt. T. H. Brem, of Char- 


16 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


lotte, organized another of the light batteries, and with 
rare patriotism advanced out of his private means the 
money to buy uniforms, equipment and horses. Capts. 
Joseph Graham and A. B. Williams succeeded to the 
command. When this battery lost its guns at New Bern, 
the town of Charlotte had its church bells moulded into 
new guns for it. The other two light batteries were 
commanded by Cap';s. A. D. Moore and T. J. Souther¬ 
land. The five heavy batteries, commanded respectively 
by Capts. H. T. Guion, W. S. G. Andrews, J. L. Man- 
ney, S. D. Pool and T. K. Sparrow, were all assigned to 
coast defense, and while they did not have as much field 
service as the light batteries, they were called upon to do 
much arduous and thankless service, and did it well. 

By this dual system of organization there were two 
sets of regiments with the same numbers: First and 
Second regiments of volunteers and First and Second 
State troops, and so on. This led to confusion. So to 
the “State troops,” as being enlisted for the longer 
term, the numbers one to ten were assigned, and the 
“Volunteers” were required to add ten to their original 
numbers. Hence, of course, the First volunteers be¬ 
came the Eleventh; the Second, the Twelfth; and the 
last of these under the first organization, the Fourteenth, 
became the Twenty-fourth. 

Following these, the regiments went up in numerical 
order, and by the close of 1861, or early in 1862, the fol¬ 
lowing had organized: The Twenty-fifth, Col. T. L. 
Clingman; Twenty-sixth, Col. Z. B. Vance; Twenty- 
seventh, Col. G. B. Singletary; Twenty-eighth, Col. 
J. H. Lane; Twenty-ninth, Col. R. B. Vance; Thirtieth, 
Col. F. M. Parker; Thirty-first, Col. J. V. Jordan; 
Thirty-second, Col. E. C. Brabble; Thirty-third, Col. 
L. O’B. Branch; Thirty-fourth, Col. C. Leventhorpe; 
Thirty-fifth, Col. James Sinclair; Thirty-sixth (artil¬ 
lery), Col. William Lamb; Thirty-seventh, Col. C. C. 
Lee; Thirty-eighth, Col. W. J. Hoke; Thirty-ninth, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


17 


Col. D. Coleman; Fortieth (heavy artillery), Col. J. J. 
Hedrick; Forty-first (cavalry), Col. J. A. Baker. 

“Thus,” comments Gordon, “the State had, in January, 
1862, forty-one regiments armed and equipped and trans¬ 
ferred to the Confederate States government.” 

Long before these latter regiments were all mustered 
in, the earlier ones had received their “bloody chris¬ 
tenings. ’ ’ Some one has said that in the drama of seces¬ 
sion North Carolina’s accession was the epilogue, but it 
is equally true that in the tragedy of battle that fol¬ 
lowed she furnished the prologue; for within two months 
after its officers were commissioned, the First regiment 
was engaged in the first battle of the war, and one of its 
members was summoned to form the advance guard of 
the new Confederate army that then began to enlist 
under the black flag of Death. 

The long struggle that was to cost North Carolina all 
its wealth, except its land; that was to overthrow its 
social system; that was to crush to mute despair its 
home-keepers; that was to cause the almost reckless 
pouring out of the blood of as proudly submissive, as 
grimly persistent, as coolly dauntless a body of soldiers 
as ever formed line of battle opened at Bethel Church, 
Va. Bethel is only a short distance from Yorktown. It 
is not a little singular that the great contest with our 
brethren began only ten miles from the spot where the 
weary struggle of our fathers culminated. 

This battle—if with the memory of Gettysburg and 
Chickamauga still fresh, we can call it a battle—was 
fought on the 10th of June, 1861. Being the first seri¬ 
ous fight of the war, it of course attracted attention out 
of proportion to its importance. Anticipating attack, 
Col. D. H. Hill had, with the First North Carolina regi¬ 
ment, thrown up an enclosed earthwork on the bank of 
Marsh creek. The Confederate position was held by the 
following forces: Three companies of the Third Virginia, 
under Lieut.-Col. W. D. Stuart, occupied a slight earth- 

is j $ 


18 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY\ 


work to the right and front of the enclosed work; three 
companies of the Virginia battalion, under Maj. E. B. 
Montague; five pieces of artillery, under Maj. (after¬ 
ward secretary of war) G. W. Randolph, of the Rich¬ 
mond howitzers; and the First North Carolina, under 
Colonel Hill, occupied the inside of the works. The 
companies composing the North Carolina regiment, 
which had the envied distinction of being the initial 
troops to enter organized battle, were: Edgecombe 
Guards, Capt. J. L. Bridgers; Hornet’s Nest Riflemen 
(Mecklenburg), Capt. L. S. Williams; Charlotte Grays, 
Capt. E. A. Ross; Orange light infantry, Capt. R. J. 
Ashe; Buncombe Rifles, Capt. William McDowell; 
Lafayette light infantry (Cumberland), Capt. J. B. Starr; 
Burke Rifles, Capt. C. M. Avery; Fayetteville light 
infantry, Capt. Wright Huske; Enfield Blues, Capt. 
D. B. Bell; Southern Stars (Lincoln), Capt. W. J. Hoke. 
The whole force was nominally under the command of 
Col. J. B. Magruder, and numbered between 1,200 and 
1,400 men. 

To surprise and capture this force, Gen. B. F. Butler, 
commanding on the Virginia coast, sent Gen. E. W. 
Pierce with five New York regiments, five companies of 
the First Vermont, five companies of the Fourth Mas¬ 
sachusetts, two of Carr’s mountain howitzers, and two 
pieces of regular artillery under Lieut. J. T. Greble, 
the whole force amounting, according to General Carr* 
of the Federal army, to 3,500 men. On the night of the 
9th this force was advanced toward the Confederate 
position on two roads. At the convergence of these 
roads Colonel Bendix’s Seventh New York regiment 
mistook Colonel Townsend’s Third New York for Con¬ 
federates and fired upon it. The fire was returned and 
twenty-one were killed and wounded before the mistake 
could be corrected, f Thinking it impossible after the 

^Carr’s Articles, Battles and Leaders, II, 149. 

f Pierce’s Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


19 


firing to surprise the Confederates, General Pierce sent 
back for reinforcements and then moved on toward 
Bethel. About 9 o’clock on the morning of the 10th 
the Federals appeared on the field in front of the South¬ 
ern works, and Greble’s battery took position. A shot 
from a Parrott gun in the Confederate works ushered in 
the great Civil war on land. The first Federal attack 
was on the front. As a result of this attack Colonel 
Carr says: “Our troops were soon seeking the shelter of 
the woods after a vain attempt to drive the enemy from 
the works. ” This attack was repelled mainly by Ran¬ 
dolph’s accurate fire, aided by the gallant conduct of the 
Burke Rifles under Captain Avery and by the Hornet’s 
Nest Rifles. A little later in the action the Edgecombe 
Guards, Captain Bridgers, gallantly retook a redoubt 
that had, on the accidental disabling of a gun, been 
abandoned by the Confederates. In front of this redoubt 
the Federals had found shelter behind and in a house. 
Colonel Hill called for volunteers from the Edgecombe 
Guards to burn this house. Sergt. George H. Williams, 
Thomas Fallon, John H. Thorpe, H. L. Wyatt and 
R. H. Bradley promptly offered their services and 
made a brave rush for the house. On the way a shot 
from the enemy’s rear guard struck Wyatt down. The 
determined spirit of this heroic young soldier led to a 
premature death, but by dying he won the undying 
fame of being the first Confederate soldier killed in 
action. 

An attempt to turn the Confederate left having failed, 
a force headed by General Butler’s aide, the gifted 
young Connecticut novelist, Maj. Theodore Winthrop, 
made an atempt on the left, hut the Carolinians posted 
there killed Winthrop at the first fire, and his followers 
soon rejoined Pierce and the whole force retreated 
toward Fortress Monroe. Just at the close of the 
action, Lieutenant Greble, who had served his guns untir¬ 
ingly against the Confederates, was killed. The gun 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


20 

that he was firing was abandoned, says General Carr, 
and his body left beside it, but subsequently recovered 
by a company that volunteered for that purpose. 

S win ton in his “Army of the Potomac” says that 
while Colonel Warren yet remained on the ground the 
Confederates abandoned the position. This is far from 
correct. General Magruder in his report says that the 
Confederate cavalry pursued the Federals for five miles. 
Colonel Carr, who commanded the Federal rear guard, 
says, “The pursuit of the Confederates was easily 
checked.”* These two reports establish the fact that 
there was pursuit and not abandonment. Colonel Ma¬ 
gruder further says,f “It was not thought prudent to 
leave Yorktown exposed any longer. I therefore 
occupied the ground with cavalry, and marched the 
remainder of my force to Yorktown.” So evidently the 
position was not abandoned while “Warren was yet on 
the ground. ’ ’ The Confederate loss in this precursor of 
many bloody fields was i killed and n wounded; the 
Federal loss was 18 killed and 53 wounded. 

In the South this little victory over a vastly superior 
force awakened the wildest enthusiasm, for it was 
thought to indicate the future and final success of the 
cause for which its people were battling. 


* Battles and Leaders, II, 150. 
f Official Report. 



CHAPTER II. 


FROM BETHEL TO FIRST MANASSAS—FIGHTING ALONG 
THE COAST—SUPPLIES OF CLOTHING AND ARMS A 
SERIOUS DIFFICULTY. 


T HE six weeks that intervened between Bethel and 
First Manassas were weeks of ceaseless activity. 
Regiments marched and countermarched; the 
voice of the drill-master was heard from hundreds of 
camps; quartermasters and commissary officers hurried 
from place to place in search of munitions and stores; 
North Carolina was hardly more than one big camp, 
quivering with excitement, bustling with energy, over¬ 
flowing with patriotic ardor. 

Toward the middle of July expectant eyes were 
turned to Virginia. The Confederate army under 
Generals Johnston and Beauregard was throwing itself 
into position to stop the “On to Richmond” march of 
the Federal army under Gen. Irvin McDowell. Two 
“armies vastly greater than had ever before fought on 
this continent, and the largest volunteer armies ever 
assembled since the era of standing armies”* were 
approaching each other. Battle is always horrible, but 
this was most horrible in that these two armies were 
sprung from the same stock, spoke the same tongue, re¬ 
joiced in the same traditions, gloried in the same history, 
and differed only in the construction of the Constitution. 

In this great battle, so signally victorious for the Con¬ 
federate arms, North Carolina had fewer troops engaged 
than it had in any other important battle of the armies 
in Virginia. Col. W. W. Kirkland’s Eleventh (after¬ 
ward Twenty-first) regiment, with two companies— 

* Beauregard in Battles and Leaders. 


21 



22 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Captain Conolly’s and Captain Wharton’s—attached, and 
the Fifth, Lieut.-Col. J. P. Jones in command during 
the sickness of Colonel McRae, were present, but so situ¬ 
ated that they took no decided part in the engagement. 
The Sixth regiment was hotly engaged, however, and lost 
its gallant colonel, Charles F. Fisher. 

This regiment had, by a dangerous ride on the Manas¬ 
sas railroad, been hurried forward to take part in the 
expected engagement. When it arrived at Manassas 
Junction, the battle was already raging. Colonel Fisher 
moved his regiment forward entirely under cover until he 
reached an open field leading up to the famous Henry 
house plateau, on which were posted Ricketts’ magnifi¬ 
cent battery of Federal regulars with six Parrott guns, 
and not far away Griffin’s superbly-equipped battery of 
Fifth United States regulars. These batteries, the com 
manders of which both rose to be major-generals, had done 
excellent service during the day, and not until they were 
captured was McDowell’s army routed. At the time of 
Fisher’s arrival these guns, which had only recently 
been moved to this plateau, were supported by the 
Eleventh New York (Fire Zouaves) and the Fourteenth 
(Brooklyn) New York. Fisher’s presence was not even 
suspected by the enemy until he broke cover about, says 
Captain White,* 125 yards in front of Ricketts’ battery, 
and with commendable gallantry, but with lamentable 
inexperience, cried out to his regiment, which was then 
moving by flank and not in line of battle, “Follow me,’’ 
and moved directly toward the guns. In the confusion 
of trying to get in line, three of the left companies, 
with Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot, became separated 
from the right companies and took no part in the gallant 
rush forward, of which General Beauregard says, “Fish¬ 
er’s North Carolina regiment came in happy time to join 
in the charge on our left.’’f The Sixth was so close to 


*Ms. Regimental History, 
f Official Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


23 


Ricketts that the elevation of his guns lessened their 
deadly effect, and its close-range volleys soon drove back 
the supporting zouaves and terribly cut down his brave 
gunners. At this juncture Capt. I. E. Avery said to 
his courageous colonel, who was also his close friend, 
“Now we ought to charge.’’ “That is right, captain,’’ 
answered Fisher, and his loud command, “Charge!” was 
the last word his loved regiment heard from his lips. In 
prompt obedience the seven companies rushed up to 
the guns, whose officers fought them until their men 
were nearly all cut down and their commander seriously 
wounded. But the charge was a costly one. Colonel 
Fisher, in the words of General Beauregard, “fell after 
soldierly behavior at the head of his regiment with 
ranks greatly thinned.’’ With him went down many 
North Carolinians “whose names were not so prominent, 
but whose conduct was as heroic. ’ ’ * 

Just as the Sixth reached the guns there was a lull 
in the fierce contest, and officers and men sought a 
moment’s rest. Young Wiley P. Mangum, exclaiming, 
“I am so tired!’’ threw himself under the quiet shadow 
of one of the guns, so recently charged with death, and 
Captain Avery, Lieuts. John A. McPherson, B. F. White, 
A. C. Avery and others gathered around the battery. 
Just then, from a wood in their left front, the Second 
Wisconsin regiment fired into the Carolinians. This 
regiment was dressed in gray uniform, f and from this 
fact, as well as from its position, the officers of the Sixth 
thought it was a Confederate regiment and called out 
to their men who were beginning to return the fire not 
to shoot, and made signals to the supposed friends. 
Young Mangum, who had sprung to his feet at the sound 
of the firing, fell mortally wounded, and several others 
were killed or disabled. Not knowing what to do, the 
regiment fell back in some confusion to the point where 


* Roy’s Regimental History, 
f Sherman’s Memoirs. 



24 


CONFEDERA TE MI LIT A R Y HIS TOR K 


it had entered the field, and the enemy advanced to 
recover the battery. On Kershaw’s advance, however, 
the Sixth again went to the front, and some of them had 
the pleasure of seeing General Hagood and Captain 
Kemper of Kershaw’s force turn the recaptured guns 
on their enemies. Shortly after this the arrival of Gen. 
Kirby Smith’s forces on the enemy’s right flank ended 
the battle. The Sixth lost 73 men in killed and wounded. 

Gen. William Smith (Southern Historical Society’s 
Papers, Vol. X, p. 439) falls into a grievous mistake 
about this regiment. He says, “When driven back from 
the guns, neither the North Carolinians nor the Missis- 
sippians remained to renew the charge, but incontinently 
left the field.” The North Carolinians never fell back 
except when, as explained above, they were fired upon by 
a regiment thought to be on their own side, and they 
yielded ground then only after repeated injunctions from 
their own officers not to fire. They returned with Ker¬ 
shaw, followed the enemy in the direction of Centreville 
until ordered to return, and at night camped on the battle¬ 
field. Maj.R. F.Webb and Lieut. B. F. White, detailed to 
bury the dead, collected twenty-three bodies near the bat¬ 
tery, and those of Colonel Fisher and Private Hanna were 
lying far beyond it. These assertions are substantiated 
by five officers present on the field, and by the written 
statements of many others, published years ago. 

This battle ended the fighting in Virginia for that year. 
North Carolina, however, was not so fortunate, for the 
next month saw Butler’s descent upon its coast. 

The coast of North Carolina, as will be seen by the 
accompanying map, is indented by three large sounds: 
Currituck, Albemarle and Pamlico. Into these the 
rivers of that section, most of them navigable, empty. 
These were the great highways of trade, and by them, 
by the canal from Elizabeth City, and by the railroads 
from New Bern and Suffolk, the Confederacy was largely 
supplied with necessary stores. “The command of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


25 


broad waters of these sounds, with their navigable rivers 
extending far into the interior, would control more than 
one-third of the State and threaten the main line of 
railroad between Richmond and the seacoast portion of 
the Confederacy. . . . These sounds of North Carolina 
were no less important to that State than Hampton 
Roads was to Virginia. ” * 

The long sandbank outside of these sounds and sepa¬ 
rating them from the ocean, reached from near Cape 
Henry to Bogue inlet, two-thirds of the entire coast line. 
Here and there this bulwark of sand is broken by inlets, 
a few of which allow safe passage from the Atlantic, 
always dangerous off this coast, to the smooth waters of 
the sound. The necessity of seizing and holding these 
inlets, controlling as they did such extensive and impor¬ 
tant territory, was at once seen by the State authorities. 
So, immediately after the ordinance of secession was 
passed, Governor Ellis ordered the seizure of Fort Cas¬ 
well, near Snr .ville, and of Fort Macon, near Morehead 
City. These \\ ere strengthened as far as the condition of 
the State’s embryonic armories allowed. Defenses were 
begun at Ocracoke inlet, at Hatteras inlet, and on Roan¬ 
oke island. Though these works were dignified by the 
name of forts, they were pitifully inadequate to the tasks 
assigned them. The one at Ocracoke was called Fort Mor¬ 
gan, and the two at Hatteras respectively Fort Hatteras 
and Fort Clark. When the State became a member of the 
Confederacy, these works, along with the “mosquito 
fleet, ’ ’ consisting of the Winslow, the Ellis, the Raleigh 
and the Beaufort, each carrying one gun,f were turned 
over to the new government. Even a cursory reading 
of the official correspondence of the successive officers 
detailed, as they could be spared from the Virginia field, 
to take charge of these coast defenses, awakens sympathy 
for them in their fruitless appeals to the government for 

* Scharf’s History of the Confederate States Navy. 

f Scharf’s History of Confederate Navy. 

Nc 4 



26 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


proper munitions of war, and admiration for their untir¬ 
ing energies and plucky utilization of sand-bars, turf, 
and smooth-bore guns. 

As the Federal government tightened the blockade, 
rapidly raising the number of its ships from 42 in 1861 to 
671* in 1864, it saw the necessity of possessing these 
sounds for safe anchorage, and it realized, as Scharf puts 
it, “that they were depots from which the very central 
line of inland communication of the Confederates might 
be broken, and that they were the ‘back-door’ to Norfolk, 
by which the navy yard might be regained.’’ More¬ 
over, the daring excursions of little Confederate vessels, 
mounting one or two guns, like the Winslow, under the 
restlessly energetic Thomas M. Crossan, which dashed 
out from these inlets to reap a rich harvest in captured 
vessels, raised such an outcry in Northern business cir¬ 
cles that there was added incentive to seize the home 
waters of these vessels. An illustration of the activity of 
these diminutive ships of war is found in the fact that in 
the month and a half preceding the capture of Hatteras 
they had seized as prizes eight schooners, seven barks 
and one brig.f 

Accordingly, in August, 1861, the Federal govern¬ 
ment fitted out at Fortress Monroe a combined army 
and navy expedition for an attack on the two forts 
at Hatteras. The land forces,J consisting of 800 infantry 
and 60 artillerymen, were commanded by Gen. B. F. 
Butler; the naval force, comprising the war vessels 
Wabash, Susquehanna, Pawnee, Monticello, Cumberland, 
Harriet Lane and transport ships, carrying in all 143 
guns, was commanded by Flag-Officer S. H. Stringham. 
these forces sailed for Hatteras inlet on the 26th of 
August and arrived off the inlet that afternoon. 

To resist this formidable expedition, the Confederates 

* Lossing’s Civil War. 

f Schedule in Rebellion Records, IV, 588. 

X Rebellion Records, IV, 580. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


27 


in the forts had eight companies of the Seventeenth 
North Carolina regiment, Col. W. F. Martin, and some 
detachments of the Tenth North Carolina artillery. The 
whole force on the first day of the engagement amounted 
to 580 * * * § men. On the second day the Ellis f landed some 
reinforcements, raising the number to 718. The post was 
commanded by Maj. W. S. G. Andrews. These forces 
were divided between Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark, 
which were about three-quarters of a mile apart. Fort 
Hatteras—the position of which was so good that the 
enemy’s engineer officer said after its capture, “With guns 
of long range it can successfully defend itself from any 
fleet’’—was a square redoubt with pan coupes at all the 
salients, and was constructed of sand, revetted with turf 
from adjoining marshes. Instead of being defended by 
guns “with long range, ’’ it mounted twelve J smooth-bore 
32-pounders. The other, Fort Clark, was a redoubt of 
irregular figure, and mounted five 32-pounders and two 
small guns. Its supply of ammunition was expended 
early in the engagement. 

On the morning after the fleet’s arrival, 318 men and 
two pieces of artillery, under cover of the ships’ guns, 
were landed “without opposition from the Confederates, 
whose garrison was unequal to defense and only large 
enough to give importance to its capture.’’§ During 
the landing of these troops and until late in the day, 
when a rising gale drove the ships out to sea, the fleet 
fiercely bombarded the forts. In this engagement Boyn¬ 
ton, as quoted by Hawkins, || asserts that Commodore 
Stringham introduced the system of ships firing while in 
motion instead of waiting to fire from anchorage, a sys¬ 
tem adopted by Farragut and which has, in the Spanish- 

* Rebellion Records, IV, 574. 

f Scharf’s History Confederate Navy. 

\ Both Hawkins in Battles and Leaders and Scharf fall into mis¬ 
take of saying 25 guns. 

§ Scharf. 

|| Battles and Leaders. 



28 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

American war, given such world-wide celebrity to the 
fleets of Admirals Dewey and Sampson. 

The next morning the Federal fleet, using improved 
Paixhan, Dahlgren and columbiad guns, stood well out 
from shore and battered to pieces the forts and their 
guns. This they did in perfect safety, for, says Flag- 
Officer Barron,* of the Confederate navy, who arrived at 
Hatteras on the evening of the 28th and succeeded to 
the command, “not a shot from our battery reached 
them with the greatest elevation that we could get. ’ ’ So, 
adds Barron, “without the ability to damage our adver¬ 
sary, and just at this time the magazine being reported 
on fire ... I ordered a white flag to be shown. ’' 

“The immediate results of this expedition,” says Gen¬ 
eral Hawkins,f “were the capture of 670 men, 1,000 stand 
of arms, 35 cannon and two strong forts; the possession of 
the best sea entrance to the inland waters of North Caro¬ 
lina, and the stoppage of a favorite channel through which 
many supplies had been carried for the use of the Confed¬ 
erate forces.” Porter, in his Naval History, comments: 
“ This was our first naval victory—indeed, our first victory 
of any kind, and great was the rejoicing thereat through¬ 
out the United States.” The Federals at once occupied 
this commanding position and made it the basis of 
future operations against this coast. 

With the exception of a skirmish at Chicamacomico 
this battle ended the offensive operations in 1861. After 
the capture of Hatteras the Twentieth Indiana regiment 
was moved up the beach to hold Chicamacomico, or 
Loggerhead inlet. On the 1st of October the Federal 
steamer Fanny “with a large supply of ammunition and 
stores” left Hatteras for the Indiana camp, but Col. 
A. R. Wright, of the Third Georgia regiment, stationed 
on Roanoke island, in conjunction with Commander 
Lynch, of the “mosquito fleet,” captured this vessel— 


* Official Report, 
f Battles and Leaders. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ,. 


29 


the first capture of an armed vessel during the war. En¬ 
couraged by this success, Colonel Wright and Colonel 
Shaw, of the Eighth North Carolina, loading their troops 
on Commodore Lynch’s vessels, moved down to attack 
Chicamacomico. The Georgia troops effected a landing 
and drove the Indiana regiment some miles down the 
beach, taking about 30 prisoners. Colonel Shaw, who 
had moved further down the coast with the intention of 
landing and cutting off the enemy’s retreat, put his men 
off into the water, his vessels having grounded, but they 
found it impossible on account of intervening sluices to 
wade ashore. The failure of Shaw’s arduous efforts to 
land led to an abandonment of further pursuit. 

The fall of Hatteras and the report of the preparation 
of another great expedition to fall on Southern coasts 
produced the utmost anxiety. This disquietude was not 
unmixed with indignation at the condition of affairs. 
The State’s troops, especially her best-armed and 
best-trained regiments, were nearly all in Virginia, and 
all her coast defenses were, like Hatteras, poorly armed 
and insufficiently manned. Governor Clark, in a letter 
to the secretary of war, thus pictures affairs in his State : 

We feel very defenseless here without arms . . . We 
see just over our lines in Virginia, near Suffolk, two or 
three North Carolina regiments, well armed and well 
drilled, who are not allowed to come to the defense of 
their homes. . . . We are threatened with an expedition 
of 15,000 men. That is the amount of our seaboard 
army, extending along four hundred miles of territory, 
and at no point can we spare a man, and without arms we 
cannot increase it. ... We have now collected in camps 
about three regiments without arms, and our only reli¬ 
ance is the slow collection of shotguns and hunting rifles, 
and it is difficult to buy, for the people are now hugging 
their arms for their own defense. 

Despairing at last of getting even his own regiments, 
he writes: 


30 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


The President has informed me that no troops for this 
defense can be withdrawn from Virginia, but I earnestly 
trust that if soldiers cannot be spared, I may at least 
hope that requisitions for arms and powder may be 
speedily and favorably attended to. 

But this was 1861, and military stores were not obtain¬ 
able. Governor Clark and his people, however, were 
not of a race to succumb to difficulties without a desperate 
struggle, and they went to work with vigor to do all 
that their circumstances would allow. At the request of 
the governor, Gen. D. H. Hill was sent from the army 
of Virginia that his experience as an artillery officer 
might be utilized in strengthening the existing fortifica¬ 
tions and in the construction of new defenses. J. R. 
Anderson, a retired soldier of Virginia, was commis¬ 
sioned by President Davis a brigadier-general and sent 
to the Cape Fear district. With the paucity of material 
at their command, these officers exerted every energy to 
aid General Gatlin, who was in charge of the whole 
department. General Hill, however, could be spared from 
his command for only a few months, and in November 
he was ordered back to command a division in General 
Johnston’s army. Gen. L. O’B. Branch succeeded him 
and was put in command of the forces around New 
Bern, and Gen. Henry A. Wise was assigned to the 
command of Roanoke island. Mirth-provoking would 
have been some of the shifts for offensive and defensive 
weapons had not the issues at stake been human life. 
Antiquated smooth-bore cannon, mounted on the front 
wheels of ordinary farm wagons, drawn by mules with 
plow harness on, moved to oppose the latest rifled 
columbiads and Parrott guns of Goldsborough’s fleet. A 
regiment armed with squirrel rifles and fowling-pieces, 
and carving knives in place of bayonets, was transported to 
Roanoke island to engage the admirably equipped sol¬ 
diers of Burnside. The catalogue of the names of 
Lynch’s fleet in Albemarle sound—the Seabird, Ellis, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


31 


Beaufort, Curlew, Raleigh, Fanny and Forrest—sounds 
imposing enough even now when we remember that 
with fewer vessels Dewey fought at Manila; but when 
we recall that the flagship was a wooden side-wheeler, 
carrying only two guns and one of them a smooth-bore; 
that the other members of the squadron were canal tug¬ 
boats, carrying one gun each; that the gunners were raw 
details from raw infantry; that the fleet had frequently 
to anchor while the crew cut green wood to fire the boil¬ 
ers—when we recall all this, we hardly know whether 
most to admire their hardihood, or to grieve that so 
brave a people had to go to war with such a travesty on 
preparation. 

As the first winter of the war drew on, a serious ques¬ 
tion that confronted the State authorities was how to 
clothe and shoe the forty regiments in the field; for it was 
evident the Confederacy could not do it. Major Gordon 
gives this account of how it was done: 

The legislature directed General Martin, late in Sep¬ 
tember, to provide winter clothing, shoes, etc., for the 
troops. The time was short and it was no small task, 
but he went about it with his usual energy. He organ¬ 
ized a clothing factory in Raleigh, under Captain Garrett; 
every mill in the State was made to furnish every yard 
of cloth that was possible; Capt. A. Myers was sent 
through North Carolina, South Carolina and as far south 
as Savannah, purchasing everything that was available 
for clothing the troops. The ladies came nobly to 
their assistance and furnished blankets, quilts and what¬ 
ever they could. Many carpets were torn up, and by 
the combined efforts of the ladies and the officers, these 
were lined with cotton and made into quilts. The troops 
of North Carolina were clothed the first winter of the 
war, if not exactly according to military regulations, at 
least in such a manner as to prevent much suffering. 
After this winter the State was in better condition to 
supply the wants of the troops. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE SECOND YEAR—BUTLER’S EXPEDITION — ROAN¬ 
OKE ISLAND LOST —BATTLE AT NEW BERN— 
SOUTH MILLS AND FORT MACON — RENEWED 
EFFORTS TO RAISE MORE TROOPS. 

E ARLY in 1862 the Federal government decided to 
follow up its successes at Hatteras by descending 
upon the North Carolina coast with the famous 
“Burnside expedition.” This expedition was supplied 
with almost every conceivable necessity for the prosecu¬ 
tion of its mission. Even railroad hand-cars were 
brought along to be used, when needed, in the trans¬ 
portation of troops. Its infantry and artillery were 
equipped with the latest arms. Its highest officers were 
all members of the regular army, and three of them 
were veterans of the Mexican war. 

North Carolina, as shown above, was at that time not 
prepared, either in the available number of its soldiers or in 
the arms of its soldiers, to resist successfully such a large 
and well-organized force. Its regiments that had seen 
most service and that were best armed were in Virginia. 
Although earnestly requested to do so, the Confederate 
government felt unable to spare any of these regiments 
to reinforce the small garrisons on the coast. So the 
heroic Shaw was left on Roanoke island with two regi¬ 
ments, to oppose, as best he might, Burnside with nearly 
15,000 men. At New Bern the gifted Branch, having 
only seven regiments and most of them but newly 
organized, was called upon to make an effort to hold a 
long line of intrenchments against this same force, aided 
by numerous gunboats. As a result of this disparity in 
numbers, Roanoke island, New Bern, and Fort Macon 


* 


32 



























































































































































. 












. ; 









































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


33 


soon fell into Federal hands, and all eastern North Caro¬ 
lina above Bogue inlet went with these fortified points. 

Nothing more strongly marks North Carolina’s subor¬ 
dination of her own interests to the welfare of her coun¬ 
try than that her authorities consented at this crisis in 
her history, when her sons were being captured by regi¬ 
ments and her territory subjugated by the square mile, 
to the retention in Virginia of so large a number of her 
troops. 

The disasters to the State began in February of 1862; 
for, commencing in October, 1861, another combined 
army and naval expedition, similar to the one com¬ 
manded by General Butler but on a much larger scale, 
had been prepared in New York and other seaports. 
The object of this expedition was to seize the coasts of 
North Carolina above Hatteras, “and penetrate into the 
interior, thereby threatening the lines of transportation 
in the rear of the main army, then concentrating in Vir¬ 
ginia, and holding possession of the inland waters on the 
Atlantic coast. The vessels of this expedition were of 
light draught, to ascend the sounds and rivers, were 
well armed, mounting in all 61 guns, and were attended 
by naval convoys. Including the transports, on which 
were loaded about 15,000 selected troops, the fleet num¬ 
bered over 80 vessels, perhaps the largest aggregation 
of warlike vessels seen up to that time on the western 
continent. The number was so large that when the 
ships reached their destination and crowded the harbor, 
General Burnside says, “We were ready to wish that the 
fleet were not so large.’’ In command of the land 
forces, General Burnside was assisted by Generals Reno, 
Foster and Parke. Admiral Goldsborough, with Com¬ 
modore Rowan as second, commanded the naval forces. 
This fleet sailed from Fortress Monroe on the nth of 
January, 1862, but, owing to having to widen the chan- 

* Battles and Leaders, 1, 661. 

Nc 5 



34 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


nels near Hatteras, did not arrive before Roanoke island 
until the 7 th of February. 

In spite of the fact that this formidable invading force 
was known to be designing an attack somewhere on this 
coast, and in spite of the further fact that Roanoke was 
the key to the whole sound region, it seemed out of the 
power of the Confederacy to provide it with defenses 
commensurate with its importance, or to spare it enough 
troops to hold its insignificant fortifications. General 
Gatlin had said in answer to a request for more troops, 
“The place is of so much importance that could I have done 
so I should long since have reinforced it, but I am unable to 
send a soldier without drawing them from parts already 
insufficiently defended. ’ ’ General Hill had reported to the 
secretary of war, “Four additional regiments are abso¬ 
lutely indispensable to the protection of the island.” 
General Wise had written the authorities, “With present 
means I cannot guarantee successful defense for a day.” 
The place should have been reinforced or abandoned. 

The defenses on the island consisted of four batteries, 
mounting in the aggregate 30 guns, all 3 2-pounders, as 
follows (see map): Fort Huger, 10 smooth-bore and 2 
rifled guns (this battery, being out of range, was not 
engaged in the battle); Fort Blanchard, 4 smooth-bore 
guns (this battery fired only an occasional shot); Fort 
Bartow, 8 smooth-bore and 1 rifled gun. This last battery 
is the one that fought the Federal fleet all day on the 
7th. Across on the mainland was another battery that 
was not fired at all, being out of range also. In addition 
to these coast batteries, there was a three-gun battery in 
the middle of the island, a short distance northeast of 
.where the Federals landed. This battery contained one 
howitzer, one 6-pounder brass field piece, model of 1842, 
and one 18-pounder, a Mexican war trophy, and described 
as of “venerable aspect. ” It was around this land bat¬ 
tery, that was flanked by earthworks for a quarter mile 
on each side, that the land fighting all occurred. One 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


35 


flank of this earthwork rested on a morass, and the other 
on a swamp. Both of these were thought to be impene¬ 
trable, but they proved otherwise. Scattered about in 
these different redoubts, the little Confederate force 
awaited the coming of Burnside’s flotilla. As General 
Wise was away at Nags Head sick, Colonel Shaw, of the 
Eighth North Carolina, was in command. He says that 
his force, exclusive of the infantry detached for the bat¬ 
teries, amounted to 1,434 effectives. This was made 
up as follows: Eighth North Carolina (568); Thirty- 
first North Carolina, Col. J. V. Jordan (in part, 456); 
part of the Forty-sixth and part of the Fifty-ninth 
Virginia, under Lieut.-Col. F. P. Anderson and two 
companies of the Seventeenth North Carolina, under 
Maj. G. H. Hill. Colonel Shaw was entirely without 
trained artillerymen, and for his 18-pounders he had 
only 12-pounder ammunition. The Confederate “paste¬ 
board fleet, ’ ’ seven vessels and eight guns, took position 
above Fort Bartow and behind some piles that partly 
obstructed the channel. 

On the morning of the 7 th, the Federal squadron in 
imposing array neared the island. “By 11 o’clock,’’ says 
General Hawkins, “the first division of army gunboats, 
under Commodore Hazard, arrived opposite the forts on 
the west side of Roanoke island and commenced the 
bombardment in earnest, and at the same time engaged 
the enemy’s fleet. As the navy vessels arrived they 
went into action, and by half past 11 the whole fleet of 
gunboats was engaged. The engagement between the 
heavy guns lasted all day without much damage having 
been done to either side. At the close the gunners 
answered each other with about the same spirit dis¬ 
played at the commencement. The Confederate forts had, 
however, fared better than their fleet. The latter was 
protected from an assault on the part of our vessels by a 
row of piles driven across the navigable part of the chan¬ 
nel and by sunken vessels; but, notwithstanding this pro- 


se 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


tection, the accurate fire of the Union fleet soon com¬ 
pelled it to retire out of range, with the loss of one of its 
vessels.” * The Confederate vessels did not retire, how¬ 
ever, until they had expended their ammunition. Fort 
Bartow, which had, owing to the position of the Federal 
fleet, been able to use only three guns, was little injured, 
although sustaining the fire of the fleet for six hours. 
This fort, the single one in action, made a gallant resist¬ 
ance to the numerous guns of the fleet. 

While this battle of heavy guns was in progress, Gen¬ 
eral Burnside landed his infantry at Ashby’s Point, about 
a mile and a half below the three-gun redoubt. His 
troops spent the night on the island, and early on the 
morning of the 8th began the attack on the redoubt 
with its flanking earthworks. The three guns of this 
redoubt were commanded by Captain Schermerhorn, 
Lieutenant Kinney and Lieutenant Selden, each having 
charge of one gun. These were supported by six com¬ 
panies of infantry, occupying the earthworks, and two 
companies on its left. The other Confederate forces 
were distributed at the other batteries or in reserve. 
General Wise reported that some companies of the 
Thirty-first evaded the combat. The whole land fight¬ 
ing was over the possession of this redoubt. If it fell, all 
the other batteries would be left exposed in the rear. 

General Foster began the attack about 8 o’clock on the 
8th. He moved up six Dahlgren howitzers on the only 
road that led to the redoubt. These he supported with 
the five regiments of his brigade. Reno followed with 
his brigade, moving into the swamp on the Confederate 
right to flank the position. Parke followed with his 
brigade. Each of Foster’s attacks in front was held at 
bay until General Reno’s brigade succeeded in making 
its way through the dense morass. Two Massachusetts 
regiments had penetrated the swamp on the right also, 
and had fallen on Wise’s three companies and driven 


* Battles and Leaders, 1,640. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


37 


them toward the redoubt. Attacked thus on all three 
sides, the little force fell back to the north side, and there 
surrendered. Colonel Shaw says, “With the very great 
disparity in numbers, the moment the redoubt was 
flanked, I considered the island lost. The struggle could 
have been protracted and the small body of brave men, 
which had been held in reserve, might have been brought 
up into the open space to receive the fire of the over¬ 
whelming force on our flank, which was under cover of 
trees; but they would have been sacrificed without the 
smallest hope of a successful result. ’ ’ 

The loss of the Confederates was 23 killed and 62 
wounded; among the killed were Capt. O. Jennings 
Wise, and Lieutenants Selden and Munroe. The Federal 
loss was, killed, 37, wounded, 214. Colonel Shaw surren¬ 
dered about 2,000 men, including his sick. The differ¬ 
ence between this force and his reported effectives comes 
from the fact, that, after the main battle, the Second 
North Carolina battalion (eight companies) and Major 
Fry with four companies of the Forty-sixth Virginia 
arrived on the island and were included in the surrender. 

When the Confederate vessels retreated from Roanoke 
they might have escaped to Norfolk, but they felt 
impelled to obey general orders “to defend home 
waters,” and went to Elizabeth City. There, with 200 
pounds of regular and 100 pounds of blasting powder, 
Lynch made what defense he could against the gunboats 
that followed him, but his ships were destroyed by the 
enemy or beached and left. So, in addition to Roanoke, 
Elizabeth City was in the hands of Burnside. 

Shortly afterward an expedition, commanded by Col. 
Rush Hawkins, Ninth New York, made its way up to 
Winton and burned a good part of the town. The five 
companies, all raw militia, sent to defend it, “fled,” Moore 
says, “ingloriously in the direction of Murfreesboro.” 

With the fall of Roanoke the way was clear for Gen¬ 
eral Burnside to direct his army against New Bern, the 


38 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


second largest town on the North Carolina coast. 
Events soon showed this to be his intention. Hence the 
State sent its available forces there under Brig.-Gen. 
L. O’B. Branch. Six regiments of regularly organized 
troops, one battalion and several unattached companies 
of militia, hastily gathered from the adjoining counties, 
half-armed, undrilled, undisciplined, were thrown into 
the fortifications a few miles below the city. To these 
were joined one or two companies of heavy artillery and 
Brem’s and Latham’s light batteries, and some com¬ 
panies of the Second cavalry. Much time had been 
expended constructing, on the Neuse river, works to repel 
gunboats, but comparatively little preparation had been 
made to repel land attacks. There were two main lines 
of defense designed, however, to be held by more men 
than General Branch had under his command, so on 
the approach of General Burnside with his land and 
naval forces, all fortifications below Fort Thompson were 
abandoned. The works behind which the Confederates 
fought extended from Fort Thompson (13 guns) on the 
Neuse to a swamp on the Weathersby road, a distance of 
two and a half miles. From the fort to the railroad, a 
distance of one mile, were posted, beginning at the fort, 
the Twenty-seventh North Carolina, Major Gilmer; the 
Thirty-seventh, Colonel Lee; the Seventh, Colonel 
Campbell; the Thirty-fifth, Colonel Sinclair, and a bat¬ 
talion of militia under Colonel Clark. Across the rail¬ 
road, for a mile and a half, the only forces were the 
Twenty-sixth North Carolina, Colonel Vance; two dis¬ 
mounted companies of the Second cavalry, and one unat¬ 
tached company of infantry, and to the right of these two 
pieces of Brem’s* battery under Lieutenant Williams. 
Between the railroad and Vance’s left there was, at a 
brickyard, a break in the Confederate lines. This break, 
the finding and occupation of which won the victory for 
the Federals, was being protected by a redoubt when 


*Not Harding's , as Battles and Leaders has it. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


39 


the opening of the battle stopped the work on the 
redoubt and left this vital point guarded only by some 
artillery acting as infantry. Back of the line, on the 
railroad, Col. C. M. Avery’s regiment, the Thirty-third, 
was held in reserve. Latham’s battery was posted near 
the Thirty-seventh, and Brem’s on the railroad.* A 
careful search of official records convinces one that it 
is impossible to ascertain Branch’s force with positive 
accuracy. General Hawkins (Battles and Leaders, I, 
648) makes it between 7,000 and 8,000 men. This is far 
too large. Branch says in his official report: “I have at 
no time been able to place 4,000 men in the field at New 
Bern, and at the time of the battle had been seriously 
weakened by the re-enlistment furloughs. ” Many of his 
regiments were being reorganized from six and twelve 
months’ enlistments to enlistments for the war. On such 
occasions the authorities granted, freely, short furloughs 
for the men to put their business in order. Hence the 
regiments were very small. Colonel Hoke reports that 
he had only 614 men present. It is fair to assume that 
the other regiments, affected by the same cause, had 
about an equal number. The six regiments present, 
then, would number about 3,684. The militia battalion 
reports 264 men. The artillery and cavalry present did 
not, from best accounts, number over 400. This would 
make Branch’s force aggregate about 4,348, which is 
nearly the figure at which he placed it, and is very nearly 
right. 

It is also difficult to get accurately the Federal num¬ 
bers. Burnside had thirteen regiments engaged. These 
were not reorganizing. But if we give them the same 
number present as the Confederate regiments, they would 
aggregate 7,982, and with the artillery would make a 
total of at least 8,300, or about double the Confederates. 

* General Hawkins errs greatly in saying: “These works were 
armed with 41 heavy guns and 19 field pieces.” (Battles and Lead¬ 
ers.) The only guns on this line were as follows: Fort Thompson, 
13; Brem’s battery, 6; Latham’s, 6; total, 25. 



40 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


But there is no reason to put the Federal regiments as 
low as 614. On the 31st of January, Burnside reported 
present for duty, 12,829. It is hardly probable that a 
month later, with no serious battle intervening, and, so 
far as reported, no detachments, that it would number 
less than 10,000 men. 

On the 13th of March, General Burnside landed his 
forces at Slocomb’s creek, and on that same day marched 
to within striking distance of the Confederate lines. On 
the 14th the attack opened by Foster moving on the 
Confederate left, between Fort Thompson and the rail¬ 
road. At the same time Reno moved against Vance’s 
position, on the right, and Parke followed up the railroad 
in the center to support either Foster or Reno at need. 
The Federal gunboats all the morning vigorously shelled 
the earthworks. Foster’s front attack on the left was 
easily repelled for some hours. But on the right, Gen¬ 
eral Reno with Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, of the Twenty- 
first Massachusetts, found the break at the brickyard and 
gallantly charged in, and then turned to the right on the 
Confederate militia posted there under another Colonel 
Clark. The militia, raising the cry that they were flanked, 
retreated in confusion, and unfortunately the Thirty- 
fifth, under Colonel Sinclair, “very quickly,” says Gen¬ 
eral Branch, “followed their example, retreating in the 
utmost disorder.” Avery’s regiment of reserves was 
ordered to the brickyard, and with Vance’s regiment 
made a determined stand. In speaking of the bravery of 
these two regiments, Colonel Clark, of the Massachusetts 
regiment, says in his official report: “They were the 
best armed and fought the most gallantly of any of the 
enemy’s forces. . . . They kept up an incessant fire for 
three hours, until their ammunition was exhausted and 
the remainder of the rebel forces had retreated.” 

Into the gap in the Confederate line, left by the retreat 
of the militia and the Thirty-fifth, Reno poured his 
forces, and they thus turned the whole right of the 



Co-nfedera-te 
Tederal 


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CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY ,. 


41 


intrenchments from Fort Thompson. Colonel Campbell, 
commanding that wing, ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Hay¬ 
wood to charge the front of Reno. This the Seventh did 
in fine form and retook Brem’s battery,* but was in 
turn driven back by the advance of the Fifth Rhode 
Island and Eighth Connecticut. After their center was 
thus cut, the Confederates saw that with their inferiority 
of numbers they could no longer make effective resist¬ 
ance, and they retired on New Bern. Their losses had 
been, killed, 64; wounded, 101; prisoners, 413. The Fed¬ 
eral losses were, killed, 90; wounded, 380. f 

The fall of New Bern opened much territory to the 
Federals. Shortly thereafter their troops occupied Car¬ 
olina City, Morehead City, Beaufort and Newport, and 
detachments were sent out in all directions. On April 
13th a skirmish between one of these detached parties 
and a portion of the Second North Carolina cavalry 
occurred at Gillett’s farm, in which Lieutenant-Colonel 
Robinson, the Confederate commander, was captured. 

On the 19th of April a spirited action took place at 
South Mills, near the Dismal Swamp canal. Rumors of 
ironclads building for a descent on the Albemarle fleet 
led the Federals to send a considerable force, under 
General Reno, to destroy the locks that connected both 
the Dismal Swamp canal and the Currituck canal with 
the rivers. | General Reno took with him from New 
Bern the Twenty-first Massachusetts, “500 picked 
men,” and the Fifty-first Pennsylvania. On his way he 

* General Hawkins again makes an error when he says: “Lieu¬ 
tenant-Colonel Clark . . . came upon a light battery of sixteen 
pieces.” Colonel Clark in his report says five pieces. There were, 
however, only four; the two others of Brem’s 6-gun battery were 
on the right, as already mentioned. 

f Official Reports. 

f “ I have organized in conjunction with Commodore Rowan 
against that place (Elizabeth City), and if we succeed in capturing 
or driving the enemy back, we shall move up to South Mills and 
blow up the lock of the canal, and then proceed up to the head of 
Currituck canal and blow in its banks, thus rendering it impossible 
for the gunboats, which are said to be building at Norfolk, to come 
into these waters. Official Records, page 271, Series I, Vol. IX. 

No 6 



42 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


was joined by Col. Rush Hawkins with his brigade, then 
stationed on Roanoke island. Hawkins says that his 
forces numbered 2,000 men. General Reno’s whole 
command, including four pieces of artillery, numbered 
fully 3,000 men. This force was landed from transports 
at Elizabeth City, and at once marched toward the locks. 
Near South Mills it encountered Col. A. R. Wright, 
commanding the Third Georgia regiment (585 strong), 
some drafted North Carolina militia, Gillett’s company 
of Southampton cavalry, and McComas’ battery of four 
pieces. Wright’s total force seems to have numbered 
about 750 men. Of these, he sent three companies and the 
militia a mile to the rear to hold an important crossing. 
Stationing his artillery in the road and supporting it with 
his little force, which General Huger says was not over 400 
men, Wright pluckily waited for the attack of the enemy. 
In spite of a long march, Reno, who had no idea of the 
small number of his foe, attacked promptly, but for three 
hours made no impression on Wright’s force, sheltered 
cleverly by the artillery and a strip of woods. At last 
McComas, who had fought his guns manfully, was killed, 
and Colonel Wright fell back a mile to his supports. 
General Reno did not attempt to follow, and that night 
at 10 o’clock left his dead and wounded behind and made 
a forced march to his boats. The losses on both sides 
were as follows: Confederate, killed, 6; wounded, 19. 
Federal, killed, 13; wounded, 92.* 

* An interesting difference between official and private reports 
comes out in the Federal accounts of this battle. General Reno and 
his second in command, Colonel Hawkins, made such glowing 
reports of what they had done that their commander, General Burn¬ 
side, issued a congratulatory order to their troops. In it he felici¬ 
tates them “upon the indomitable courage with which they attacked 
a large body of the enemy’s best artillery, infantry and cavalry in 
their own chosen position, achieving a complete victory. Rebellion 
Records, IX., 307. 

In a private letter to the same commander, the same General 
Hawkins says in reference to the same affair: “Doubtless the unfor¬ 
tunate occurrence of the igth has been brought to your notice. No 
one can regret the result more than myself. First, because of the 
loss of life; second, the object of the expedition not being accom- 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


43 


The culmination of the serious losses that had befallen 
the coast by the operations of General Burnside was the 
surrender of Fort Macon, on the sand-bar opposite Beau¬ 
fort. This fort was an “old style, strong, casemated 
work,” mounting about fifty guns.f Col. M. J. White 
occupied the fort with four companies of the Tenth 
North Carolina artillery and one company of the Forti¬ 
eth. General Burnside sent General Parke with his divi¬ 
sion to lay siege to the work. After some weeks spent in 
preparing mortar and Parrott batteries, under protection 
of the sand hills, General Parke opened fire on the fort 
with four batteries on the 25th of April. The Federal 
fleet joined in the fire for an hour or two. By 4 o'clock 
the combined batteries threw 1,150 shells and shot at the 
fort, 500 of which took effect,]; dismounting over half 
the guns. Colonel White says in his official report: “The 
attack from the land was kept up with great vigor, the 
enemy having immense advantage from superior num¬ 
bers, being able to relieve their men at the guns, while 
our morning reports showed only 263 men for duty. Our 
guns were well managed but able to do little damage to 
water batteries and siege guns, firing through narrow 
embrasures. At 6:30, finding that our loss had been 
heavy, and, from the fatigue of our men, being unable to 
keep up the fire with but two guns, a proposition was 
made to General Parke for the surrender of the fort. ’ ’ 
The regimental history of the Tenth regiment declares: 
“Of the forty-four guns, half were entirely disabled. 
None on the parapet facing the entrance to the harbor 
could be brought to bear on the land batteries, nor could 

plished after all the obstacles in our way had been removed. It 
seems that both parties were badly frightened. The enemy ran like 
quarter-horses toward Norfolk, and we as fast as our weary legs 
would carry us toward Roanoke, leaving quite a number of our 
wounded, and destroyed the bridges behind us.”—Ibid., 316. 

f It is difficult to tell how many guns Macon had; Hawkins says, 
64; Burnside, 54; and the Tenth Regiment History, 44. 

% Flagler’s Report. 



44 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


those facing Beaufort.” The Confederate loss was 7 
killed and 18 wounded. 

These successive defeats aroused the people instead of 
dispiriting them. They saw plainly that the Richmond 
authorities had been far too slow in realizing the State’s 
condition and the importance of the territory being lost. 
They saw, not without some bitterness, enough North 
Carolina troops sent into the State, after the fall of New 
Bern, to have prevented its loss. Still the almost 
defenseless condition of the other part of the State called 
for new exertions, and without taking time for much 
repining, the State government sent out an order that 
was fruitful in results. This was, that the captains of all 
militia companies were to detail one-third of their men 
for immediate service, and these men were accorded 
permission to volunteer for the war. Major Gordon 
says: “ This order struck a wave of patriotism that was 
floating over the State from east to west, which had 
been almost dormant for some months on account of the 
government’s refusing to furnish arms to twelve months’ 
volunteers. Prominent men in every county of the 
State vied with one another in raising troops, and many 
of those not actually going to the field were as busy 
helping as those going. Instead of getting one-third, 
the writer believes that fully two-thirds of those liable to 
service volunteered under this call. In all, twenty-eight 
regiments and several battalions promptly volunteered. 
The adjutant-general’s office was daily crowded by men 
offering companies for service. The Eleventh regiment 
(Bethel) was reorganized at High Point; the Forty-sec¬ 
ond (Col. G. C. Gibbs), at Salisbury, April 22d; and at 
Camp Mangum, near Raleigh, were organized the Forty- 
third (Col. T. S. Kenan), the Forty-fourth (Col. G. B. 
Singeltary), the Forty-fifth (Col. Junius Daniel), the 
Forty-sixth (Col. E. D. Hall), the Forty-seventh (Col. 
S. H. Rogers), the Forty-eighth (Col. R. C. Hill), the 
Forty-ninth (Col. S. D. Ramseur), the Fiftieth (Col. M. D, 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


45 


Crator), the Fifty-second (Col. J. K. Marshall), the 
Fifty-third (Col. W. A. Owens), the Fifty-fourth (Col. 
John Wimbish), and the Fifty-fifth (Col. J. K. Conolly) 
—all between the 21st of April and the 19th of May. 
The Fifty-first (Col. J. L. Cantwell) was recruited in the 
Cape Fear district and organized at Wilmington. 

‘ ‘ The State had now in a very short while fifteen splen¬ 
did regiments organized and ready for service, except 
arms, which will be mentioned later. All the military 
departments of the State were tried to their uttermost to 
clothe, feed and equip this large number of troops, who so 
promptly came to the defense of the State. In addition 
to those mentioned above, twelve or thirteen more regi¬ 
ments were in sight at the adjutant-general’s office, to be 
taken care of when fully recruited. ’ ’ * 


* Organization of the Troops. 



CHAPTER IV. 


THE FEDERAL MOVEMENTS AGAINST RICHMOND- 
PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN—DAM No. i, OR LEE’S MILL 
—RETREAT UP THE PENINSULA —WILLIAMSBURG 
—HANOVER COURT HOUSE —SEVEN PINES—JACK¬ 
SON’S WONDERFUL VALLEY CAMPAIGN. 

W HILE these new regiments were forming, the 
North Carolina regiments already transferred to 
the army of Virginia were engaged in the famous 
Peninsular campaign and the battles around Richmond. 
Just a few weeks after the battle at New Bern, McClellan’s 
army began to land at Fort Monroe preparatory to its 
ascent of the peninsula. On the 4th of April, 1862, his 
troops began to move against the Confederate works, 
held at that time by Gen. J. B. Magruder with about 
11,000 men. General Magruder had spent much time 
and work upon the construction of parallel lines of fortifi¬ 
cations across the peninsula. However, the Confederate 
commander-in-chief, General Johnston, after an exami¬ 
nation of the works and of the whole ground, decided 
that it was not feasible to attempt to hold the peninsula, 
flanked as it was by water; and the forces there, and 
those sent to their aid after McClellan began to move, 
were placed under orders to withdraw gradually upon 
the approach of the Union army, but to strike, if need be, 
and to protract the giving up of the lines as long as 
possible. 

Accordingly, on the nearer approach of McClellan the 
Confederates fell back upon the Warwick line of defenses. 
On the 16th of April, at Lee’s Mill, or Dam No. 1, the 
first sharp trial of strength between the opposing forces 
took place. Gen. W, F. Smith’s division was ordered to 


46 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


47 


attack the Confederate works there, the object being, 
according to General McClellan, “to force the enemy to 
discontinue his work in strengthening his batteries, to 
silence his fire, and to gain control of the dam existing 
at this point. ’ ’ * Smith brought up his three brigades, 
Brooks’, Hancock’s and Davidson’s, and during the 
morning kept up a vigorous artillery fire. Then, at 3 
o’clock, under cover of a sharp artillery and musketry 
fire, two attacking and two supporting companies of the 
Third Vermont regiment crossed the stream and rushed 
gallantly for the Confederate works. The part of the 
works immediately in their front was occupied by the 
Fifteenth North Carolina regiment, Col. R. M. McKin¬ 
ney. The regiment at the time of the Federal attack 
was not on its lines, but was about 200 yards in the 
rear, engaged on some heavy intrenchments that it had 
been ordered to make. When the pickets gave the 
alarm, the Fifteenth rushed to its arms and advanced to 
meet its assailants, who on reaching the unoccupied line 
had partly taken refuge behind the earth thrown from 
the Confederate rifle-pits, f and opened upon the North 
Carolinians, as they advanced, an accurate and deadly fire. 
The fire was promptly returned and several volleys 
exchanged. Colonel McKinney of the Fifteenth was killed 
in the advance. The Seventh Georgia and other adjoin¬ 
ing regiments, none knowing the strength of the attack¬ 
ing party, rushed to the aid of the North Carolinians, and 
in a few moments the little band of Vermont men was 
driven back with a loss of 83 men. 

At 5 o’clock a more formidable attack was made by 
the Sixth Vermont, in conjunction with the Fourth Ver¬ 
mont. Colonel Lord, of the Sixth Vermont, says: “The 
companies . . . advanced fearlessly and in perfect order 
. . . with a view of taking the rifle-pits of the enemy at 
the point of the bayonet. Before this could be accom- 

* Letter to Adjutant-General Thomas, April 19th. 

f Ihrie’s official report. 



48 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


plished, and at a distance not exceeding 30 yards, a 
most rapid, galling and destructive fire was opened, 
telling with fearful effect upon our men who were ad¬ 
vancing to make the assault. ” Asa result of this heavy 
fire, all the Federal regiments participating were soon 
withdrawn. The total Federal loss in this engagement 
was 165. The Fifteenth North Carolina lost its colonel, 
of whom General McLaws said, “He was pure in all his 
thoughts and just in all his acts.” In addition, 12 men 
were killed and 31 wounded. 

In this retreat up the Peninsula, retiring from one 
intrenchment to another, the North Carolina soldiers, in 
common with all their comrades from other States, 
suffered unusual hardships. General Magruder gives 
this account of the situation in the trenches: “From the 
4th of April till the 3d of May this army served almost 
without relief in the trenches. Many companies of artil¬ 
lery were never relieved during this whole period. It 
rained almost incessantly. The trenches were filled with 
water. No fires could be allowed. The artillery and 

infantry of the enemy played upon our men almost con- 

• 

tinuously, day and night. The army had neither coffee, 
sugar nor hard bread, but subsisted on flour and salt 
meats, and these in reduced quantities, and yet no mur¬ 
murs were heard. ... I speak this in honor of those 
brave men whose patriotism made them indifferent to 
suffering, disease, danger, and death.” Gen. E. P. 
Alexander, in commenting on this report, declares: 
“These statements are not exaggerated in a single word. 
The trenches filled with water as fast as they could be 
opened and could not be drained. Yet the continual 
firing compelled the men to remain in them. ... A 
hand or head could not be exposed for a moment with¬ 
out receiving a ball from the telescopic target rifles of 
the sharpshooters. The trenches were so hastily con¬ 
structed that they barely afforded room for the line of 
battle to crouch in. . . . In many places they became 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


49 


offensive beyond description. Fires were strictly for¬ 
bidden by day and night. The sick lists increased by 
thousands, and cases occurred where men actually died 
in the mud and water of the trenches before they could 
be taken out to the hospitals. ” Then General Alexander 
adds a fact that shows the intense earnestness with which 
these men were imbued: “Not only were there no mur¬ 
murs or complaints, but in the midst of all this, the.terms 
of enlistments of a large part of the army expired, and 
they at once re-enlisted ‘for three years or the war.’ ”* 

By May 4th the retreating Confederates had reached 
the line of fortifications around Fort Magruder, just 
below the old town of Williamsburg. On that day the 
Federal cavalry and infantry pressed the Confederate 
rear so closely that the trains became imperiled. Hence, 
the battle fought there on the 5th of May was not from 
Confederate choice, but from the necessity of the hour. 
The Northern reports, and indeed many Northern writers, 
show an entire misconception of the purpose of this bat¬ 
tle. They seem to think that it was part of Johnston’s 
purpose to hold permanently the Fort Magruder line. 
Keyes says in his official report: “If Hancock had failed, 
the enemy would not have retreated. ’ ’ This is far 
from the true state of affairs. As Colonel Maury ob¬ 
serves: “General Johnston had no intention of tarrying 
at Williamsburg, nor was the place defensible, for the 
enemy now had control of both York and James rivers, 
on each flank, and intended to push Franklin’s division, 
kept on transports . . . rapidly up the York river in the 
vain hope of getting in our rear.” General Johnston 
says: “It was an affair with our rearguard, the object 
of which was to secure our baggage trains. ”f General 
Webb, of the Federals, observes: “The demonstration 
of the Union cavalry the previous afternoon, and Hook¬ 
er’s pressure the next morning, compelled them to face 

* Southern Historical Society Papers. 

f Johnston’s Narrative. 

No 7 



50 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


about to escape being run over at will by their pur¬ 
suers. ”* 

General Magruder had been ordered not to stop in 
Williamsburg at all. Gens. G. W. Smith and D. H. Hill 
were ordered to resume the march at 2 a. m. on the 5th, 
and Longstreet was to cover the trains. Accordingly, 
General Smith moved at the hour appointed, and General 
Hill’s infantry was just filing into the road to follow his 
trains when he was stopped by the news that a battle 
was imminent in the rear. His division spent most of 
the day on the campus of William and Mary college, 
waiting to see whether Longstreet would need help, for 
a heavy downpour of rain had fallen on the night of the 
4th, flooding the low swampy road, and “part of the trains 
were stalled on the ground where they stood during the 
night. ’ ’ f 

At daylight on the 5th, Anderson, of Longstreet’s 
corps, seeing the condition of things and believing that a 
struggle would be necessary to save the wagon trains, 
re-manned the redoubts on the right of Fort Magruder 
and as many on the left as the heavy rain permitted him 
to see. Two redoubts on the left were not seen, and 
perhaps could not have been occupied if seen, for that 
long line of works had been designed for an army to 
hold, not for a rear guard division fighting for time to 
save its stores. \ These were the two redoubts after¬ 
ward seized by Hancock, and were the scene of the Fifth 
North Carolina regiment’s bloody fight. 

Hooker attacked Longstreet manfully at 7 o’clock on 
the 5th. However, as General Webb of the Federal 
army chronicles, “he lost ground until Kearny came up” 
about 2 o’clock. Subsequently Couch arrived, but the 
three divisions never gained an inch from Longstreet’s 

* The Peninsula, in Civil War Series. 

f From Manassas to Appomattox. 

| Colonel Maury, in his article on Williamsburg in Southern His¬ 
torical Society Papers, seems to overlook this fact when he censures 
the Confederate leaders for not occupying all these redoubts. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


51 


sturdy fighters. When reinforcements began to reach 
the Federals, Longstreet sent to D. H. Hill for one bri¬ 
gade, and at 3 o’clock Hill’s whole division moved back 
to be in supporting distance, but only two of his regi¬ 
ments were actively drawn into the battle on the right. 
Longstreet’s division contained few North Carolinians. 
The Thirteenth, Col. A. M. Scales, and the Fourteenth, 
Col. P. W. Roberts, and Manly’s battery, were the 
State’s sole representatives in that part of the battle. 
Both of these regiments were in Colston’s brigade. Col¬ 
ston was not put in till late in the afternoon. The 
Thirteenth went to A. P. Hill’s right and was suddenly 
and fiercely attacked. It, however, under the stimulat¬ 
ing example of Colonel Scales and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Ruffin, held its own till the close of the contest. The 
Fourteenth was deployed in a skirt of woods on A. P. 
Hill’s left, and remained under fire for several hours, 
behaving with conspicuous bravery. Longstreet reports: 
“Brigadier-General Colston, though last upon the field, 
was hotly engaged until darkness put an end to the 
struggle,’’ and he compliments both Scales and Roberts 
on “having discharged their difficult duties with marked 
skill and fearlessness. ’ ’ 

Manly’s North Carolina battery made an enviable 
record in this battle. Five of its guns were posted in 
Fort Magruder, and one under Lieutenant Guion was in 
a redoubt. When Webber’s battery, afterward cap¬ 
tured, was trying to get in position, Manly’s guns, the 
first of which was fired by Sergeant Brooks, largely aided 
the infantry in so disabling it that it never rendered 
effective service. Longstreet’s fight for time was a 
marked success in that he held his own all day and cap¬ 
tured five of the enemy’s guns. 

On General Longstreet’s left, Hancock had,during the 
uproar of battle, crossed Cub Dam creek and entered the 
first of the unoccupied redoubts, already mentioned as 
being on the left of Fort Magruder. Having the first 


52 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


one, he then, in the amusing language of the Comte de 
Paris, “seeing no enemy, fearlessly proceeded to march 
into the next” This put his force directly on the Con¬ 
federate flank, in a position of strength, “having a crest 
and natural glacis on either flank, and extending to the 
woods on the right and left,” and “entirely commanding 
the plain between me and Fort Magruder. ”* As Han¬ 
cock had five regiments and Cowan’s battery of six pieces 
and Wheeler’s of four, he felt strong enough, as he was 
so advantageously posted, to proceed “to make a diver¬ 
sion in favor of that portion of our forces which were 
engaged with the enemy directly in front of Fort Magru¬ 
der.” Up to that time the Confederates had been so 
absorbed in the hard fight in front that “Hancock’s 
maneuver had been executed before its dangerous sig¬ 
nificance became apparent.”! Webb adds, “By this 
movement on our right, the enemy were forced to pay 
special attention to Hancock.” “The occupation of 
these two redoubts on his extreme left, ’ ’ says Lossing, 
“was the first intimation that Johnston had of their 
existence, and he at once perceived the importance of 
the position, for it was on the flank and rear of the Con¬ 
federate line of defense, and seriously menaced its integ¬ 
rity. M J Hancock soon got his batteries to work, and, 
says the Regimental History of the Fifth regiment, was 
“seriously annoying our troops by an enfilading fire.” 
So, to counteract Hancock’s “diversion,” Early’s brigade 
of D. H. Hill’s division, all of which division “had been 
waiting to see whether Longstreet needed any further 
support,” was moved toward the left, and its officers, 
says General Longstreet, made a reconnoissance in their 
front. As a result of this reconnoissance F “General 
Early,” says General Johnston, “sent an officer to report 
that there was a battery in front of him which he could 


* Hancock’s Report, 
f Peninsular Campaign. 

% Civil War in America, II, 382. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


53 


take, and asked authority to do so. The message was 
delivered to General Longstreet, who referred the mes¬ 
senger to me, we being together. I authorized the 
attempt, but desired the general to look carefully first.”* 
General Hill’s report is virtually the same, for he says: 
“He (Early) soon reported to General Longstreet in 
person that there was a Yankee battery in his front on 
the edge of a wood, and asked leave to take it. General 
Longstreet approved the move, and directed me to 
accompany it. ”f Generals Hill and Early then rode to 
the front and examined the ground in front of them, 
declares Early in his report. General Hill also says in 
his report, “I reconnoitered the ground as well as I 
could. ”J 

General Hill evidently understood that this brigade 
was to wage just such a battle as the right was then 
making—a rear guard engagement to gain time, and that 
in addition it was to prevent the enemy on Longstreet’s 
left from flanking him, and that the battery the brigade 
was to assail was not to be carried by direct assault but 
by “getting in rear of the battery by passing through 
the woods to its left. ” This was the plan he had in view, 
for he says, “I directed this wing (the Fifth and the 
Twenty-third North Carolina) to halt as soon as the 
stream was crossed and undergrowth penetrated, to get 
the whole brigade in line, and sent my adjutant, Major 
Ratchford, to General Early to know whether he had 
gotten over. We had not halted five minutes (waiting 
to reform the line) when I heard shouting and firing, and 
a voice which, above the uproar, I took to be General 
Early’s, crying, ‘Follow me!’ ” The advance of that part 
of the brigade made it necessary for Hill to direct “the 
right wing to move rapidly forward, and I went myself in 

* Johnston’s Narrative, 122. 

f It is proper to add that General Longstreet says that General Hill 
made this request. 

\ Colonel Maury, evidently writing without carefully reading these 
reports, asserts that no reconnoissance was made. 



54 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


advance of it. ” If the batteries were to be charged 
across the open, the quicker the better. He adds, “I 
regretted that our troops had gone into the open field 
where the ground was so heavy . . . and where they 
were exposed for half a mile to the full sweep of the 
Yankee artillery, but it was now too late to change the 
order of things, and there was some hope of a direct 
attack, if made rapidly.’’* Below in his report, he again 
says, “I have always regretted that General Early, carried 
away by his impetuous and enthusiastic courage, advanced 
so far into the open field. ” 

General Longstreet says of the attack: “General Hill 
ordered the advance regiments to halt after crossing the 
streamlet and get under cover of the woods until the bri¬ 
gade could form, but General Early, not waiting for 
orders or the brigade, rode to the front of the Twenty- 
fourth Virginia regiment, and with it made the attack. 
The gallant McRae, of the Fifth North Carolina, seeing 
the Twenty-fourth hotly engaged, dashed forward nolens 
volens to its relief. The other [two] regiments, seeing 
the confusion of movements and of orders, failed to go 
forward. ”f But these regiments were not as entirely 
inactive as General Longstreet and others have thought. 
General Hill says that, seeing that the woods on the left 
were full of the enemy, and “that a column moving 
across the field would be exposed to a fire in flank, ’ ’ he 
ordered these regiments to change direction to the left 
and clear the woods. The regiments were imperfectly 
drilled and the ground densely wooded, and before they 
succeeded in carrying out the maneuver it was too late 
for them to assist the attack of the Twenty-fourth Vir¬ 
ginia and the Fifth North Carolina. 

The charge made by the Fifth North Carolina, led by 
Col. D. K. McRae, Lieut.-Col. J. C. Badham, Maj. P. J. 
Sinclair and Adjt. J. C. McRae, will be a lasting mon- 


* Hill's Official Report, 
f From Manassas to Appo mattox. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


55 


ument to the heroism of North Carolina troops. This 
regiment, on clearing the woods, changed direction to 
the left and, lapping wings with the Twenty-fourth Vir¬ 
ginia, rushed upon Hancock’s strong line. The Regi¬ 
mental History gives this account of the charge: “In 
front of the redoubt were five regiments of infantry 
supported by a battery of ten pieces (Cowan 6, Wheeler 
4), with clouds of skirmishers in their advance. The 
charge of the Fifth has rarely been surpassed in the his¬ 
tory of war. Pressing on from the first in the face of 
the battery, entering in the plunging fire of the infantry, 
wading into a storm of balls which first struck the men 
on their feet and rose upon their nearer approach, it 
steadily pressed on. . . . Officers and men were falling 
rapidly under the withering fire of grape, canister and 
musketry. Lieutenant-Colonel Badham was shot in the 
forehead and fell dead. Major Sinclair’s horse was killed 
and he was disabled. Captains Garrett, Lea and Jones 
were all shot down, as were many of the subalterns. 
Among them were Lieut. Thomas Snow, of Halifax, who 
was killed far in advance of his company, cheering on 
his men; and Lieutenants Boswell, Clark and Hays.” 

Four hundred and fifteen men of this regiment 
answered to morning roll-call on that day; before night, 
the blood of 290 fed the soil of that bleak hill. Such 
losses are rarely chronicled. The Light Brigade at 
Balaklava took 600 men into action and lost only 247. 
Twenty-four commissioned officers of the Fifth regiment 
led their men up that slope; only four came out unhurt. 
No wonder that their antagonist for that day, General 
Hancock, said, in a generous burst of enthusiasm for 
such daring, “Those two regiments deserve to have 
immortal inscribed on their banners. ” 

Whether the Fifth and 'Twenty-fourth would have suc¬ 
ceeded in routing Hancock had they not been ordered to 
fall back, or had the other two regiments pushed rapidly 
to their assistance, must, as General Hill says, “forever 


56 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


remain an undecided question.” Colonel McRae evu 
dently thought they would. However, the student of the 
Confederate war history knows from the slaughter at 
Malvern Hill and Boonsboro, at Gettysburg and Fred¬ 
ericksburg, how well-nigh impossible it is for the most 
dauntless infantry to drive an American foe from an 
artillery and musketry crowned plateau. Even if the 
rest of the brigade had come when sent for, it hardly 
seems possible for two regiments, already crippled by 
many casualties, numbering together “not over 1,000” 
before any loss, aided by only two fresh regiments, all 
without any artillery, to have put to flight five full regi¬ 
ments and ten pieces of artillery, posted on a crest, shel¬ 
tered in part by a redoubt, and commanded by so good a 
soldier as Hancock. Moreover, a careful reading of Han¬ 
cock’s report shows that what McRae took for a retreat 
of Hancock’s artillery was simply the retirement of his 
guns, one by one, to his original and stronger line, made 
in obedience to an order from General Smith and show¬ 
ing no signs of disorder. Colonel McRae confirms this 
when he says in his report, “the battery had been retired 
en echelon with great precision, and there was no such man¬ 
ifest disorder as would justify storming the redoubt.” 
Colonel Maury, of the Virginia regiment, says: “Had 
the regiments been allowed to go on, the redoubt would 
have been captured without further loss.” That this is 
a mistake is shown by McRae’s report. He says: “I 
had previously sent my adjutant to General Hill, an¬ 
nouncing my loss and the danger of my position, and 
earnestly begging for reinforcements; but finding my 
force too s?nall and the position fatally destructive, I did 
not wait his return, but ordered my command to fall off 
down to the cover of the fence, and immediately after I 
received the order to retire.” 

Colonel Maury in this same article, blames the Confed¬ 
erate commander for not bringing up his whole division 
to extricate the two regiments from their perilous pooi- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


57 


tion and to support them; but he forgets that the com¬ 
manding officer was under positive orders from General 
Longstreet “not to involve us so as to delay the march 
after night, ’ ’ and it was nearly dark when the assault was 
fairly joined. 

In commenting on the battle, General Longstreet says: 
“The success of General Hancock in holding his position 
in and about the forts with five regiments and two bat¬ 
teries against the assault of the Fifth North Carolina and 
Twenty-fourth Virginia was given heroic proportions by 
his chief, who christened him ‘The Superb,’ to relieve, it 
is supposed, by the picturesque figure on his right, the 
discomfiture of his left. But reading between the lines, 
the highest compliment was for the two Confederate regi¬ 
ments. ”* Draper, the New York historian, adds: “The 
manner in which the Confederate rear guard turned upon 
their pursuers at Williamsburg and gave them a bloody 
check will always exact the applause of military critics. ”f 

On the 7th of May, at Eltham’s landing, nearly opposite 
West Point, Va., Franklin’s division of McClellan’s army 
disembarked from transports for the purpose of getting 
in the rear of Johnston’s retreating army. The purpose, 
however, was frustrated, for Franklin found G. W. Smith 
on the ground, and Whiting’s division attacked him there. 
Captain Reilly’s battery and Colonel Pender’s Sixth 
North Carolina regiment were under fire, but not seri¬ 
ously engaged. 

The next battle in Virginia was at Slash church, near 
Hanover Court House, on the 27th of May. This, with 
the exception of one regiment, was purely a North Caro¬ 
lina fight. The Confederate force, one brigade and two 
attached companies, was commanded by Gen. L. O’B. 
Branch, of North Carolina, and of the seven regiments 
present all were from the same State except the Forty- 
fifth Georgia, Col. T. M. Hardeman. This brigade, after 

* From Manassas to Appomattox. 

f Civil War in America. 

No 8 



58 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


its engagements around New Bern, had been ordered to 
join Jackson in the valley, but on its way was stopped at 
Hanover Court House, and kept on lookout duty there. 
General McClellan, expecting General McDowell to join 
him in a movement on Richmond, threw forward his 
right wing under Gen. Fitz John Porter to crush Branch’s 
force out of his path. 

Porter had in his command Morell’s division and War¬ 
ren's brigade. Branch’s force consisted of his own bri¬ 
gade—the Seventh North Carolina, Col. R. P. Campbell^ 
the Eighteenth, Col. R. H. Cowan; the Twenty-eighth, 
Col. J. H. Lane; the Thirty-seventh, Col. C. C. Lee; 
and the Thirty-third, Lieutenant-Colonel Hoke; and 
also two temporarily attached regiments, the Twelfth 
North Carolina, Col. B. O. Wade, and Forty-fifth Geor¬ 
gia—in all seven regiments—and Latham’s North Caro¬ 
lina battery, that joined him the night before the battle. 
In view of the hard fight that Branch gave him, it is not 
surprising that General Porter, writing the day after the 
battle, should say that Branch’s force “comprised about 
8,000 Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia troops.’’ 
But for General Webb, writing in 1881, and claiming to 
have “sifted” and “collated for careful investigation the 
new material gathered by the war department, and now 
for the first time made a basis of the history of that 
time, ” * to say—for him to say in the face of such a claim 
as that—“that Branch’s command must have been about 
10,000 strong” is, as the Federal General Palfrey sweetly 
says in commenting on some of McClellan’s figures, 
“one of those extraordinary, inconceivable, aggravating 
things that stirs up everything that is acrid in the nature 
of those who follow his career. ”f 

What was the Confederate strength? Branch, in his 
congratulatory order to his brigade (July 24th), states 
that his total force was “about 4,000. ” This would make 

* Preface to “Peninsula Campaign.” 

f Antietam to Fredericksburg, p. 39. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


59 


his seven regiments average about 600 men to the regi¬ 
ment, a high average for Confederate regiments, and 
especially for those that had been over as much territory 
as Branch’s. Even McClellan, with his fondness for big 
numbers on the Confederate side, admits “the regi¬ 
ments (Confederate) will not average over 700 men.”* 
Some of the regiments that opposed Branch that day 
reported fewer than 600. Porter does not state his num¬ 
bers. General Webb says that Porter had “about 12,000 
men.’’f Probably, as Porter had one whole division 
(Morell’s) and one brigade (Warren’s), this is not far 
wrong. General Warren gives the number in each of his 
regiments, and the aggregate is 2,705; his regiments 
averaging 653 men each. In Morell’s division there were 
fourteen regiments (eleven infantry, two cavalry, one 
sharpshooters), three batteries, and two companies of 
sharpshooters. Putting these regiments and batteries at 
the same as Branch’s (600 to the regiment), they aggregate 
8,700, and with Warren’s make a total force of 11,405 
at the very least—nearly three times the Confederate 
force. 

At the approach of the two forces, General Branch 
advanced Colonel Lane with the Twenty-eighth North 
Carolina, and a section of Latham’s battery, under Lieu¬ 
tenant Potts, to support his pickets. The regiment soon 
became heavily engaged with Porter’s van, the Twenty- 
fifth New York regiment, and drove it back, inflicting 
heavy loss. Pressing the Twenty-fifth they encountered 
Butterfield’s | entire brigade. Helped by a friendly 
wood, Lane maintained his position for some time. 
However, in spite of the efforts of his two guns, Butter¬ 
field’s force was soon overlapping both his wings, and so 
Lane gave orders to retire along a fence. All the horses 
of one of Pott’s guns had been disabled, and he was 

* Rebellion Records, XI, I, 271. 

f Peninsula Campaign. 

i Not Martindale’s, as Lane reports. 



60 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


forced to leave this piece. Lane says of the fight of this 
section: “Never were two guns served more hand¬ 
somely. ” On their retreat toward Hanover Court 
House, this regiment found the enemy between it and the 
rest of the brigade and lost many prisoners. However, 
Webb’s assertion that “it was almost entirely captured,” 
is far wide of the mark, as Lane reports that it reached 
its brigade on the Chickahominy with 480 men.* Col¬ 
onel Lane says of his retreat: “Already exhausted from 
exposure to inclement weather, from hunger, from fight¬ 
ing, it was three days before the regiment, by a circuit¬ 
ous route, rejoined the brigade . . . where it was wildly 
and joyfully received. It was highly complimented by 
Generals Lee and Branch for its behavior on this mas¬ 
terly retreat. ’ ’ 

While Lane was engaged with Butterfield, Branch 
advanced his other regiments toward Peake’s crossing 
and found the enemy stationed across the road. Branch 
thus describes his movements: “My plan was quickly 
formed, and orders were given for its execution. Lee 
with the Thirty-seventh was to push through the woods 
and get close to the right flank of the battery. Hoke, as 
soon as he should return from a sweep through the woods 
on which I had sent him, and Colonel Wade, of the 
Twelfth, were to make a similar movement to the left 
flank of the battery, and Cowan (Eighteenth) was to 
charge across the open ground in front, Latham mean¬ 
while bringing his guns to bear on their front. Hoke, 
supported by Colonel Wade, had a sharp skirmish, taking 
6 prisoners and 11 horses, but came out too late to 
make the movement assigned to him; and Lee having 
sent for reinforcements, I so far changed my plan as to 
abandon the attack on the enemy’s left, and sent Lieu¬ 
tenant-Colonel Hoke to reinforce Colonel Lee, relying on 
the front and right attack. Colonel Cowan, with the 
Eighteenth, made the charge most gallantly; but the 


* Regimental History. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


61 


enemy’s force was much larger than supposed, and 
strongly posted, and the gallant Eighteenth was com¬ 
pelled to seek cover. It continued to pour heavy volleys 
from the edge of the woods, and must have done great 
execution. . The steadiness with which the desperate 
charge was made reflects the highest credit on officers 
and men. . . . The combined attack of the Eighteenth 
and Thirty-seventh compelled the enemy to leave his 
battery for a time and take shelter behind a ditch bank. ”* 
This attack fell on Martindale’s Second Maine regiment, 
Forty-fourth New York, some detachments of the Ninth 
and Twenty-second Massachusetts and of the Fourth 
Michigan, and what Lane had left of the Twenty-fifth 
New York, all supporting a section of Martin’s battery. 
The Federal line was broken and the gunners driven 
from their pieces. General Martindale says: “The bat¬ 
tle had now lasted for quite an hour, and although the 
center of my line was broken, under a cross fire that was 
entirely destructive and unsupportable, still the Second 
Maine on the right and the largest body of the Forty- 
fourth New York on the left, maintained their ground 
(vithout flinching. (It is now disclosed that they were 
assailed by four times their number.)”f Federal rein¬ 
forcements soon arrived. Generals Porter and Morell 
hastened personally to the firing, and at this crisis sent 
in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth New York and Griffin’s 
battery to reform Martindale’s broken line. The Ninth 
Massachusetts and Sixty-second Pennsylvania were hur¬ 
ried back from toward Hanover. Their line of march 
threw them on Branch’s left flank and rear, and, already 
far outnumbered before the arrival of this new force, 
Branch was left no option except to retreat. The 
Seventh North Carolina and Forty-fifth Georgia, which 
had been held in reserve and not at all engaged, covered 

* Official Report. 

f This “four times their number” was, as seen above, only Cow¬ 
an’s and Lee’s regiments. 



62 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the Confederate retreat. Branch’s loss, including 
Lane’s, was 73 killed, 192 wounded, and about 700 
captured. If Porter’s report, “of the enemy’s dead we 
buried about 200,” be true, he must have buried some 
twice. The Federal loss was 62 killed, 223 wounded, 
and 70 missing. 

General Lee sent his congratulations to General Branch, 
in which he used these words: “I take pleasure in 
expressing my approval of the manner in which you 
have discharged the duties of the position in which you 
were placed, and of the gallant manner your troops 
opposed a very superior force of the enemy. ’ ’ 

Closely following Hanover Court House came Seven 
Pines, with a list of casualties at that time thought appall¬ 
ing. There, as at Hanover, an officer from North Caro¬ 
lina directed the fiercest and most protracted part of the 
contest; for, says Gen. Cadmus Wilcox, “Seven Pines, 
the successful part of it, was D. H. Hill’s fight.’’ Gen¬ 
eral Longstreet, who commanded the whole right wing, 
says: “The conduct of the attack (on the Confederate 
right) was left entirely to Major-General Hill. The 
entire success of the affair is sufficient evidence of his 
ability, courage and skill. ’ * 

The Confederates in front of Richmond were appre¬ 
hensive that the force under McDowell would be added 
to that under General McClellan, and thereby give him 
strength enough to overpower them and take Richmond. 
To prevent this, Johnston, learning that two of McClel¬ 
lan’s army corps, those of Keyes and Heintzelman, were 
on the south side of the Chickahominy, determined on 
an immediate attack upon them. In order to get an 
intelligible idea of the part of the North Carolina troops 
in this great battle, it will be necessary first to take a 
glance at the whole field. 

Casey’s division of Keyes’ corps was nearest to Rich¬ 
mond. This lay behind earthworks, strengthened by an 
unfinished redoubt, on the Williamsburg road, west of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


63 


Seven Pines. Behind Casey, at a distance of about a 
mile and a quarter, Couch was in position on the same 
road, his right extending out toward Fair Oaks on the 
Nine-mile road. Kearny’s and Hooker’s divisions, form¬ 
ing Heintzelman’s corps, were in rear of Couch. The 
rest of the Federal army was north of the Chickahominy. 

General Johnston’s battle plan was simple, and if all of 
it had been carried out as effectively as a part of it was 
the result must have been disastrous to McClellan. 
Longstreet, who commanded the entire right, was to 
send in D. H. Hill’s division in a front attack on Casey 
on the Williamsburg road, and support that attack by his 
own division. Huger was to move on the Charles City 
road, parallel to Hill, and make a flank attack synchro¬ 
nous with Hill’s front attack. G. W. Smith, in charge 
of the left wing, was to keep Sumner’s corps, north of 
the river, from reinforcing Keyes, and if not attacked 
early, he was to assist the right wing. For various 
reasons, not in the province of this writer to consider, 
only a part of the plan was carried into effect. Huger 
never made the flank attack, and in the first day’s fight 
only one of Longstreet's brigades got into close action, 
although Hill’s division was fighting Casey, Couch and 
Kearny. On the left wing, the line of battle was never 
formed until the head of Sumner’s corps was in position 
to receive it. 

On the day appointed, D. H. Hill, after vainly waiting 
from early morning until i o’clock for the flank move¬ 
ment and for the left wing, was ordered by General 
Longstreet to attack Casey’s works with his division of 
four brigades. Garland and G. B. Anderson formed the 
left of the attacking column, and Rodes and Rains the 
right. “After more than two hours of very hard fight¬ 
ing, “ says Gen. G. W. Smith, “these four brigades, 
unaided, captured Casey’s earthworks. ” * Then, aided 
after 4 o’clock by R. H. Anderson’s brigade of Long- 


* Battle of Seven Pines, p. 149. 



64 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


street’s corps,* they broke Couch’s line and forced the 
three divisions of Casey, Couch and Kearny back to their 
third line, capturing eight pieces of artillery and 
gathering from the field over 6,000 muskets. 

General Casey, who sustained the first attack, says: 
“To be brief, the rifle-pits were retained until they were 
almost enveloped by the enemy, the troops with some 
exceptions fighting with spirit and gallantry. The 
troops then retreated to the second line, in possession of 
General Couch’s division. . . . On my arrival at the 
second line, I succeeded in rallying a small portion of 
my division, and with the assistance of General Kearny, 
who had just arrived at the head of one of his brigades, 
attempted to regain possession of my works, but it was 
found impracticable. The troops of General Couch’s 
division were driven back, although reinforced by the 
corps of General Heintzelman. The corps of Generals 
Keyes and Heintzelman having retired to the third line 
by direction of General Heintzelman, I there collected 
what remained of my division. ’ ’ f 

The Federal reports and many subsequent historical 
writers speak persistently of the “overwhelming numbers” 
of the Confederates engaged in the defeat of their left. 
There is little difficulty in showing by the official reports 
that this is a mistake. On the Federal side the divi¬ 
sions of Casey, Couch and Kearny were engaged. Gen¬ 
eral Heintzelman, the senior Federal officer on their left, 
says: “Couch’s, Casey’s and Kearny’s divisions on the 
field numbered but 18,500. ”J Each of these division com¬ 
manders reports, without itemization, that he had engaged 
“about 5,000’’ men. This, of course, would make the 
total 15,000 men, as opposed to Heintzelman’s 18,500. 
Five thousand may be right for the strength of Kearny, 
but it seems that there must be some mistake in the 

* Kemper’s brigade of Longstreet’s was sent Hill, but came too 
late for active service. 

\ Official Report. 

i Official Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


65 


reports of Casey and Conch. These two divisions made 
np Keyes’ corps, and it so happens that on the very morn¬ 
ing of the battle, May 31st, Keyes sent in to the govern¬ 
ment his certified return of men present in his corps. He 
reports as present, but sick, etc., 1,074, and as “present 
for duty'" in those two divisions on that day, 17,132;* his 
two division commanders report, at 1 o’clock of the same 
day, and with no march and no battle intervening, that 
between them they had only 10,000 men. How on that 
peaceful May morning 7,132 men could, between morn¬ 
ing and 1 o’clock, disappear, “vanish into unsubstantial 
air’’ and not be missed, is difficult to understand. But 
grant that they did, and that Couch and Casey were 
right, and that they and Kearny together had but 15,000 
men, still were they not outnumbered. 

General Hill had only four brigades that day in his 
division, Ripley’s being absent. In their official reports, 
his brigadiers report their forces that morning as follows: 
Anderson reports that he took into action 1,865; Gar¬ 
land, 2,065; Rodes, 2,200. Rains states no numbers; 
nearest field returns, May 21st, give him 1,830. Total, 
Hill’s division, 7,960. R. H. Anderson, of Longstreet’s 
division (same field return), 2,168. Total Confederate 
force engaged on the right in the first day’s battle, 
10,128. So, taking the lowest estimate that the Federals 
make, they were evidently not outnumbered, but out¬ 
numbered the Confederates by at least 5,000 men. 

With the front attack of Garland and Anderson went 
the Fourth, Fifth and Twenty-third North Carolina regi¬ 
ments. These moved at once into a nerve-testing con¬ 
flict. The Fourth was under command of Maj. Bryan 
Grimes. Major Grimes, after speaking of the regiment’s 
wading through pools of water waist-deep, in which 
many of the wounded were drowned, thus described the 
advance: “The enemy also had a section of a battery 
(two pieces), which was dealing destruction to my left 

* Rebellion Records, Vol. XI, Part 3, p. 204. 

Nc 9 



66 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


wing, while my center and right wing were being mowed 
down by grape and canister from the redoubt; but the 
men steadily advanced in admirable order. The enemy 
fled from the field pieces on my left, and we concen¬ 
trated our whole attention on the redoubt. ” Other regi¬ 
ments joining, they charged heavily on the redoubt and 
yet did not gain it the first time. After a most obstinate 
defense this redoubt was taken, “the enemy fleeing.” 
Of the second attack on the redoubt the Regimental 
History says: “When the second charge was ordered, the 
regiment passed over the same ground over which it had 
charged only a little while before. It was appalling to 
see how much the line had been reduced in numbers. 
The heavy compact line of half an hour previous was now 
scarcely more than a line of skirmishers, but they moved 
with the same boldness and determination as before. 
The ground was literally covered with the bodies of their 
dead and wounded comrades, yet they moved steadily 
forward, directing their fire with telling effect until 
within a few paces of the fortifications, when the enemy 
broke and ran for their lives. . . . But little was said. 
All felt that mighty deeds had been accomplished. They 
knew the terrible price that they had paid for the 
advantage won.” 

The regiment had gone into action with 678 men. 
Major Grimes and one other were the only unhurt officers 
in the regiment. Out of 25 commissioned officers, 
23 were killed or wounded. Of the men, 74 were 
killed and 265 wounded. From such a record as this, 
we can understand that Major Grimes had, as General 
Anderson said, “led his regiment into the thickest of 
the fight.” After three color-bearers had been killed, 
Major Grimes seized and “brought out of action its 
tattered but honored flag.” 

In the other brigade on the left, the Fifth North Caro¬ 
lina, reduced by its bold charge at Williamsburg to 180 
men, (commanded first by Colonel McRae and then by 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


67 


Lieutenant-Colonel Sinclair), and the Twenty-third North 
Carolina, under Colonel Christie, did their full duty. The 
Twenty-third became separated, the three right com¬ 
panies being detached, but were, says Colonel Christie, 
“gallantly led by Lieut.-Col. R. D. Johnston across the 
Williamsburg road, and, co-operating with the Fourth 
North Carolina, charged in the direction of the battery in 
the redoubt, officers and men acting nobly, but suffering 
terribly. ’ ’ Although all its field officers and two-thirds 
of its captains were down, the regiment fought on till 
night closed the struggle. The loss in the Twenty- 
third was not so large as in the Fourth, but was severe. 
“Colonel Christie and Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston,” 
writes General Garland, “were both disabled while doing 
handsome service. Maj. E. J. Christian was killed. 
The total loss in this regiment was 18 killed and 145 
wounded. The Fifth lost 1 killed and 26 wounded. 
“This entire brigade,” reports General Garland, “was in 
front of the fight, receiving the first shock of the 
enemy’s fire. ” 

While this ensanguined conflict was raging on the right, 
little was done on the left until about 5 o’clock. Then 
Hampton’s, Pettigrew’s and Whiting’s brigades attacked 
the infantry and artillery of some of Couch’s regiments 
that had been driven in their direction and heavily rein¬ 
forced by Sumner’s corps, which had hastened across the 
Chickahominy. In Hampton’s attack, the Sixteenth North 
Carolina was thrown into line of battle immediately in 
front of a Federal battery, and went forward under a 
galling fire from these guns as well as from small-arms. 
“On reaching,” says the Regimental History, “within 
fifty feet of the enemy’s guns, we found ourselves con¬ 
fronted by a miry swamp, covered with timber felled 
toward us, and the limbs sharpened.” This almost 
insurmountable barrier stopped the gallant advance, and 
the regiment lay down so close to the enemy that he 
gould not bring his guns to bear on it. At nightfall, 



68 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the regiment was withdrawn. Its brave colonel, Champ 
P. Davis, had, however, fallen in the action. 

Colonel Pender’s Sixth North Carolina regiment arrived 
on the field somewhat in advance of Whiting’s other 
regiments. Colonel Pender was ordered to move for¬ 
ward, with the assurance that the rest of the brigade 
would speedily support him. He advanced rapidly, and 
his skirmishers drove back the first line of the enemy 
from their position near Fair Oaks. He crossed the road 
leading from Fair Oaks to Grapevine bridge, and had 
moved some distance to the front when his attention was 
called to a large force massed in column by company in 
a field near the road, and also near the swamp where 
Pettigrew and Hampton were wounded. In the fog of 
the evening, the enemy had failed to make out Pender’s 
colors. At a glance Pender saw that the enemy was sit¬ 
uated so far to his left and rear as to make his capture 
almost a certainty should their officers at once recognize 
him and intervene between his command and the rest of 
his brigade. So, without even replying to the officer 
who pointed out the troops, and with the born soldier’s 
quickness of perception and promptitude of action, he 
instantly ordered, “By the left flank, file left, double 
quick!’’ In an instant his splendidly drilled and disci¬ 
plined regiment had changed direction, and was moving 
in double time to place itself across the front of its foes. 
The moment the line fairly attained its new bearing, 
Colonel Pender commanded, ‘ ‘ By the right flank, charge! ’ ’ 
Before the Federals realized the intent of the movement, 
his men were pouring volley after volley into their un¬ 
formed ranks. “Under the suddenness and fury of the 
attack,’’ says Judge Montgomery, “the foe reeled and 
staggered, while the glorious soldier withdrew his force 
and rejoined his brigade, which was just coming up.’’* 
In the general advance which followed, the Sixth regi¬ 
ment, entirely unprotected by the swamp that partly 


* Memorial Address. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


69 


covered the assault of the other troops, fought its way to 
within eighty yards, says Major Avery, of the enemy’s 
line, and there stubbornly held its own until after dark, 
when it was ordered by the brigade commander to retire, 
being the first of its brigade to enter the battle and the 
last to be withdrawn. 

During the progress of this battle, Colonel Pender’s 
coolness, quickness and readiness of resource so impressed 
President Davis, who was on the field, that riding up to 
Colonel Pender, he said, “I salute you, Ge?ieral Pender.” 
Colonel Pender afterward said to a friend, “My promo¬ 
tion on the field for good conduct realized the dream of 
my life.” 

When General Smith saw his brigades hotly engaged, 
and some of them badly repulsed, he moved Hatton’s 
brigade and Colonel Lightfoot’s Twenty-second North 
Carolina regiment, which had been in reserve, into 
action. General Smith accompanied these troops, and 
he bears testimony to the courage of their attack: “The 
troops moved across the field with alacrity, and the pre¬ 
cision of their movement in line of battle has been sel¬ 
dom equaled, even on the parade ground.” Then, de¬ 
scribing their dashing advance to within a short distance 
of the enemy’s line of fire, he says: “Very seldom, if 
ever, did any troops in their first battle go so close up to 
a covered line under so strong a fire, and remain within 
such a distance so long.”* Of the behavior of the 
Twenty-second here, one of its officers says: “In all my 
reading of veterans and coolness under fire, I have 
never conceived of anything surpassing the coolness of 
our men on this field. ” In this action General Pettigrew 
was desperately wounded. As he, thinking that he was 
mortally wounded, refused to be moved from the field, 
generously saying that others less severely wounded 
needed more attention than he, he was taken prisoner. 
His captors, however, ministered sympathetically to his 


* Official Report. 



70 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


needs, and he recovered. The North Carolina losses on 
this portion of the field, so far as they can be made out, 
were as follows: In the Sixteenth, 17 killed and 28 
wounded; in the Sixth, 15 killed and 32 wounded. The 
Twenty-second does not report its loss separately, but 
Major Daves states it at 147.* 

During General Smith’s action, Guion’s section of 
Manly’s battery was active just in rear of Whiting’s bri¬ 
gade, and one of his limbers bore to the rear the Confed¬ 
erate commander-in-chief, General Johnston, when he 
was wounded just at nightfall. Leaving out the Twenty- 
second, the total North Carolina loss at Seven Pines was, 
as far as reported, 125 killed and 496 wounded. 

The movement of great lines of battle, the fierce onset, 
the bloody repulse, the bold strategy of generals, the 
immortal courage of desperate men—these are the glo¬ 
rious side of battle. But there is a woeful side to which 
attention is rarely directed. William R. Gorman, a tal¬ 
ented musician of the Fourth North Carolina, gives a 
glimpse of the dark side of this stern passage at arms. 
He writes: “How calm and still is everything since the 
grand battle of Seven Pines! Nature smiles sweetly, 
and the birds sing as enchantingly as though no deeds of 
blood and carnage had been perpetrated near this now 
peaceful spot. ... I went to the hospital and did all I 
could to alleviate the horrible suffering, till late at night. 
What sights I witnessed! Piled in heaps lay amputated 
arms and legs—an awful scene, while from the bloody 
masses of flesh around the surgeons went up such pierc¬ 
ing cries that the blood almost chilled around the fount¬ 
ain of life. . . . Though chloroform was administered, 
the pain was so intense that it had no effect, and the 
poor wretches broke the stillness of night with cries so 
heartrending that it seemed to me the very corpses 
trembled. And such a sight when the surgeons’ tasks 
were done—arms and legs piled up like cord-wood! Our 


* Regimental History. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 71 

regiment lost 375 men, and to-day cannot start 400 for 
duty. ”* 

After General Johnston’s wound at Seven Pines, Gen¬ 
eral Lee was put in chief command of the Confederate 
forces. Wishing to strike McClellan a decisive blow, and 
thus relieve the pressure on Richmond, Lee began to 
devise means to increase his army. Hence his attention 
was at once directed to the fifteen North Carolina regi¬ 
ments already mentioned as raised by Governor Clark for 
the defense of his own State against the Federal army at 
New Bern, and then in camp in North Carolina, but not 
yet armed. Major Gordon, who is thoroughly familiar 
with the affairs of the adjutant-general’s office at that 
time, gives the following account of the negotiations for 
these regiments: 

On or about the night that General Martin received 
his commission as brigadier-general, the governor of 
North Carolina received a communication from the war 
department of the Confederate States giving him in full 
the plan of the campaign to crush McClellan’s army, and 
asking the governor’s co-operation with the North Caro¬ 
lina troops in camp, but not then turned over to the Con¬ 
federate government, and also attempting to reconcile 
him to the moving of all the other troops in the State to 
the State of Virginia. The statement above that the 
war department would communicate the plans of one of 
the most famous campaigns of the world more than a 
month before a shot was fired, might, without explana¬ 
tion, seem incredible. The State of North Carolina had 
at this time fifteen regiments, each nearly 1,000 strong, 
and none of them turned over to the Confederate govern¬ 
ment. These troops were raised on the governor’s call 
for the defense of the State, and he could have kept them 
for that service if so disposed. This was the only body 
of reserve troops in the Confederacy, at least no other 
State had anything approximating to it, so it was very 
important for General Lee to receive this reinforcement. 
Hence every plan was fully made known to the governor 
of North Carolina. In brief, the plan, as told me by my 


* Our Living and Our Dead. 



72 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


chief, was to concentrate everything that could be taken 
out of North Carolina and elsewhere against General 
McClellan’s army, and crush it before Burnside could 
move from New Bern. . . . The governor was informed 
that the defense of his State would be an easy matter 
after the defeat of McClellan’s army, and would not be 
overlooked. The governor and adjutant-general went 
into the plan heart and soul, and did everything in their 
power to make it a success; they, and they alone, knowing 
what the Confederate government and General Lee 
expected them and North Carolina to do. About this 
time the State received a shipment of arms from Eng¬ 
land (2,400). . . . They were given to the troops now 
waiting for them. The Confederate government now 
came promptly to the assistance of the State in arming 
the troops at Camp Man gum, and before the 1st of June, 
every one of them was armed and ready for service. 
The troops serving in the State were gradually and 
quietly withdrawn and sent to Virginia. . . . When the 
struggle commenced at Richmond, General Lee was 
fearful that Burnside would find out the defenseless con¬ 
dition of North Carolina and move forward. Every 
night he telegraphed, ‘Any movement of the enemy in 
your front to-day ? ’ ’’ * 

At the close of the Seven Days’ battles only two regi¬ 
ments of infantry, the Fiftieth and the Fifty-first, were 
left in the State, and the forces of the enemy on the coast 
could, had they been apprised of the heavy movement of 
troops, have swept without opposition over all of the 
State. A people less brave and patriotic would never 
have consented to incur such a risk with so strong an 
enemy at its doors. The governor exposed his own cap¬ 
ital to save that of the Confederacy. He finally left only 
one regiment of infantry, one of cavalry, and two or 
three batteries of artillery between him and an army 
then estimated to be about 20,000 strong. At the close 
of this campaign North Carolina had forty regiments in 
Virginia. The fifteen regiments sent to Virginia were 
not sent back to the State after Malvern Hill, but Gen- 


* Organization of the Troops. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


73 


eral Martin was ordered home to organize new regiments 
for its local defense. 

Preceding and preliminary to the great approaching 
battles aronnd Richmond, occurred Jackson’s remarkable 
campaign of 1862 in the Shenandoah valley. Jackson’s 
matchless soldiership and almost inspired energy brought 
new zeal to the Southerners, whose enthusiasm had been 
somewhat chilled by the reverses in North Carolina and 
in the Mississippi valley. Only to Kirkland’s Twenty- 
first North Carolina regiment and Wharton’s battalion of 
sharpshooters was accorded the honor of representing 
North Carolina in “Jackson’s foot-cavalry,’’ and par¬ 
ticipating in his brilliant victories. The sharpshooters 
were regular members of the Twenty-first regiment 
until after the battle of Winchester, on the 25th of May. 
Then two companies were detached and organized as 
sharpshooters, and under the gallant Col. R. W. Wharton 
did fine service to the close of the war. 

On the approach to Winchester, the Twenty-first, then 
in Trimble’s brigade, was in advance, and at daylight of 
the 25th was ordered to enter the town. Two of the 
companies under Major Fulton had been detailed for 
special service the night before, and did not succeed in 
rejoining their regiment until the severest part of the 
fighting was over. The other regiments of the brigade 
followed closely behind Kirkland, who moved toward 
the town in double-time. Just as he reached the suburbs 
of the town, a Federal line rose from behind a stone wall 
parallel to the road, and poured into the Carolinians a 
fire as destructive as it was unexpected. The regiment 
instantly charged the wall but failed to carry it, and 
took refuge behind a wall almost parallel to the one that 
sheltered its antagonists. The Twenty-first Georgia 
regiment, however, seeing the situation of its comrades, 
dashed hastily into the flank of the Federals, and, 
assisted by Kirkland’s men, drove them through the 
town. In the midst of a wild ovation that the citizens 
Nc 10 


74 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of Winchester gave Jackson’s soldiers, and while every 
form of edible was being thrust upon the hungry North 
Carolinians, General Trimble ordered them to follow and 
protect Latimer’s battery wherever it went. As this bat¬ 
tery was pressing the retreating enemy, and moving 
rapidly oftentimes, the regiment was led a dance over 
the twelve miles intervening between Winchester and 
Martinsburg, where the industrious artillerymen finally 
rested. 

In the furious fire at the stone wall Colonel Kirkland 
was wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Pepper wounded so 
seriously that he died in a few days, and Captains Hedg- 
cock and Ligon killed. The total loss of the regiment 
in the battle was 21 killed and 55 wounded. 

At the battle of Cross Keys, on the 8th and 9th of 
June, the Twenty-first was held in reserve to support 
Courtney’s battery, but the two companies of sharp¬ 
shooters, deployed as skirmishers, opened the action. 
General Trimble says of the regiment: “The Twenty- 
first North Carolina, left to support this battery, was 
exposed to the effect of the terrific fire, but under cover 
of the hill, happily escaped with few casualties. When 
the battery was threatened with an infantry force, this 
regiment was called and readily took its place to repel 
the enemy’s attack, and stood modestly waiting to do its 
duty as gallantly as heretofore. ’ ’ 

From June 25th to June 28th, some of the regiments of 
Gen. Robert Ransom’s North Carolina brigade, in con¬ 
junction with Gen. A. R. Wright’s Georgia brigade and 
other troops, were involved in some sharp minor engage¬ 
ments with Gen. Philip Kearny’s division of stout fight¬ 
ers on the Williamsburg road, in the neighborhood of 
King’s schoolhouse. The regiments taking most part in 
these affairs were the Twenty-fifth, Colonel Rutledge; 
the Forty-ninth, Colonel Ramseur; the Twenty-fourth, 
Colonel Clark; the Thirty-fifth, Colonel Ransom, and the 
Twenty-sixth, Col. Z. B. Vance. At the schoolhouse battle, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


75 


the Twenty-fifth was under fire for several hours and re¬ 
pelled all efforts to break through its lines. General 
Ransom reports: “The regiment behaved admirabty, and 
I am proud to bear witness to its unwavering gallantry. ’ ’ 
The Forty-eighth was thrown out to support Colonel 
Doles’ regiment of Georgians, and at French’s house rose 
and charged and drove back a superior force very hand¬ 
somely, losing, however, nearly ioo men. The North 
Carolina losses in these three days were 26 killed and 
85 wounded. 


CHAPTER V. 


THE GREAT STRUGGLE OF 1862 FOR RICHMOND—BAT¬ 
TLES OF MECHANICSVILLE, COLD HARBOR, FRAY- 
SER’S FARM, MALVERN HILL —NORTH CAROLINA 
TROOPS CONSPICUOUS IN ALL ENGAGEMENTS— 
McCLELLAN’S UTTER DEFEAT BY LEE. 

HE series of battles known as the Seven Days’ 



battles aronnd Richmond resulted in McClellan’s, 


8 forced ‘ ‘ change of base, ’ ’ in the relief of Richmond, 
in the Confederate capture of 52 pieces of artillery, 
10,000 prisoners and 27,000 stand of small-arms, and 
stores great in amount and value. * To effect these results, 
174 Confederate regiments of infantry were engaged. Of 
this number, North Carolina contributed 36 regiments. 
The total number of Confederate dead left by these 
bloody combats in the swamps of the Chickahominy was 
3,279; the total number of wounded, 15,851. To this 
ghastly list North Carolina contributed in killed, 650; in 
wounded, 3,279. 

To turn these numerical abstractions into the concrete, 
this means that, in this array of 174 regiments, every 
fifth regimental color swept by the storm of these bat¬ 
tles floated over North Carolina bayonets. Every fifth 
man who dropped a weapon from hand palsied by death, 
left a desolate home in North Carolina. Nearly every 
fourth wounded man who was litter-borne from the field, 
or who limped to the crude hospitals in the rear, wore a 
North Carolina uniform. Every fifth bullet that helped 
to raise the Union casualties to 15,849 was from a North 
Carolina musket. 

The first of these desperate encounters was at Mechan- 

* General Lee’s Official Report. 


76 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


77 


icsville and Beaver Dam. In spite of a constantly erro¬ 
neous statement of numbers, this engagement was be¬ 
tween four brigades (not counting brigades present, but 
not materially engaged) of Fitz John Porter, and five 
brigades of A. P. Hill, assisted just before dusk by Rip¬ 
ley’s brigade of D. H. Hill’s division. Gregg’s and 
Branch’s brigades, of A. P. Hill’s, took no part in the 
assault on the fortified lines, being otherwise engaged. 
The plan of the battle was for Jackson to strike the right 
flank of the Federal intrenchments, while A. P. Hill 
attacked in front. Jackson was, however, unavoidably 
delayed, and A. P. Hill, not waiting for his co-operation, 
attacked impetuously in front. Later in the war the 
troops on both sides learned to have great respect for 
intrenched positions; but, as has been said, “we were 
lavish of blood in those early days, ’ ’ and an attack on a 
battery or a strongly-fortified line was deemed especially 
glorious. Pender’s North Carolina brigade, made up of 
the Sixteenth, Twenty-second, Thirty-fourth and Thirty- 
eighth and two battalions of other troops, advanced, as the 
division commander says, “gallantly in the face of a 
murderous fire” to the right of Field’s advanced brigade. 
Under Pender’s personal direction, Col. W. J. Hoke, of 
the Thirty-eighth, and Col. R. H. Riddick, of the Thirty- 
fourth North Carolina, joined in a desperate but “abortive 
effort to force a crossing. ’ ’ In this daring advance the 
Thirty-fourth was outstripped by the Thirty-eighth, and 
that regiment alone tenaciously fought its way close up 
to the Federal rifle-pits, furnishing a magnificent yet 
fruitless exhibition of bravery. Of this attack Judge 
Montgomery says: “Pender and his brave Carolinians 
swept over the plain and down the bottom, under a mur¬ 
derous fire of artillery and musketry, to the brink of the 
creek; nothing could live under that fire. President 
Davis, who was on the field, seeing the charge and the 
terrible repulse, ordered Gen. D. H. Hill to send one of 
his brigades to Pender’s assistance, and Ripley’s was 


78 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


sent.”* Meantime, the Twenty-second North Carolina 
had come “suddenly upon a regiment of the enemy just 
across the run, and after some little parley, opened fire, 
driving the enemy quickly away, but found it impossible 
to cross. The loss of this regiment here was very heavy; 
among others, its brave colonel (Conner) received a severe 
wound in the leg. ’ ’f 

Ripley’s arrival brought two more North Carolina regi¬ 
ments into the battle—the First, Colonel Stokes, and the 
Third, Colonel Meares. These, with the Forty-fourth 
and Forty-eighth Georgia, formed Ripley’s brigade. 
Two of Ripley’s regiments, the First North Carolina and 
the Forty-fourth Georgia, united with Pender on the 
right, and the Third North Carolina and Forty-eighth 
Georgia moved to a position in front of the enemy. All 
moved forward. The two regiments directly in front 
suffered little, comparatively, but Pender and the two 
regiments on the right went indeed into a storm of lead. 
The Georgians lost 335 men in a very short while. Colo¬ 
nel Brown thus describes the action of the First: “It 
advanced to the attack in front of the splendid artillery 
of the enemy, posted across the pond at Ellison’s mill. 
The slaughter was terrific, yet the regiment pressed for¬ 
ward in the face of this fire for more than half a mile, ad¬ 
vancing steadily to what seemed inevitable destruction, 
till it reached the pond and took shelter in a skirt of 
woods. ”J In this movement Colonel Stokes was mortally 
wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell badly wounded, 
and Major Skinner killed. Capts. J. A. Wright and 
R. W. Rives and four lieutenants were also among the 
slain. The loss among the men was 140. The Six¬ 
teenth regiment, through an error of its guide, became 

* Memorial Address. It should be stated that General Hill, seeing 
the waste of blood in the front attack, when Jackson’s advance 
would soon make the position untenable, sent this brigade only upon a 
second order from General Lee, confirmed by Mr. Davis, 

f Pender’s Report 

\ Regimental History. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


79 


separated from its brigade and was called upon to support 
another brigade. Always ready for a fight, Colonel 
McElroy did his part with skill and courage, and the reg¬ 
iment suffered a loss of about 200 men. No better exam¬ 
ple of the hotness of the fire to which these regiments 
were exposed can be found than in the losses of one of 
the companies. Captain Flowers, of the Thirty-eighth 
regiment, lost 27 men out of 32 taken into action. 

Lieutenant Cathey, of the Sixteenth regiment, de¬ 
scribes the situation of the soldiers the night of the bat¬ 
tle. He says.: “Our surroundings were deserts of solitary 
horror. The owls, night-hawks and foxes had fled in 
dismay; not even a snake or a frog could be heard to 
plunge into the lagoons which, crimsoned with the blood 
of men, lay motionless in our front. Nothing could be 
heard in the blackness of that night but the ghastly 
moans of the wounded and dying. ’ ’ 

On retiring from Beaver Dam creek General Porter, 
having, as he says, 30,000 men,* fortified in a naturally 
strong position on the east bank of Powhite creek, six 
miles from Beaver Dam. Crowning every available prom¬ 
inence with batteries to sweep the roads, and also posting 
batteries or sections of batteries between his brigades, he, 
with Sykes’ division of regulars, Morell’s and McCall’s 
divisions, and later with Slocum’s division sent to rein¬ 
force him, awaited the attack of the divisions of Jackson, 
A. P. Hill, Longstreet, Whiting and D. H. Hill. The 
battle that followed the meeting of these forces, known 
as Gaines’ Mill, or Cold Harbor, was one of the hottest 
of the war. 

As at Mechanicsville, A. P. Hill was the first to send 
his troops into action, almost in the center of the field. 
As a part of his force went nine North Carolina regi¬ 
ments—the Seventh, Eighteenth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty - 

* Battles and Leaders, II, p. 337. (Note. —General Webb 
strangely says that “Porter had less than 18,000 infantry at Gaines’ 
Mill.”—Peninsula Campaign, page 130.) 



80 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


third and Thirty-seventh, of Branch’s brigade; and the 
Sixteenth, Twenty-second, Thirty-fourth and Thirty- 
eighth, of Pender’s brigade. The work before them was 
enough to appal any but the stoutest hearts. General 
Porter himself has put on record testimony to the grim¬ 
ness of their attack. He says: “Dashing across the 
intervening plains, floundering in the swamps, struggling 
against the tangled brushwood, brigade after brigade 
seemed almost to melt away before the concentrated fire 
of our artillery and infantry; yet others pressed on, fol¬ 
lowed by supports as dashing and as brave as their pre¬ 
decessors.’’ In the repeated assaults of the afternoon, 
the Sixteenth North Carolina, Colonel McElroy, and the 
Twenty-second, Lieut.-Col. R. H. Gray, won enviable 
reputation, as Gen. A. P. Hill reports, by carrying “the 
crest of a hill, and were in the camp of the enemy, but 
were driven back by overwhelming numbers. ’’ Toward 
night, Longstreet, A. P. Hill and Whiting united in a 
final charge on Porter’s left, and in spite of the fact that 
he had been reinforced by Slocum, broke through his 
strong lines. Then, writes General Law, “We had our 
innings. As the blue mass surged up the hill in our 
front, the Confederate fire was poured in with terrible 
effect. The target was a large one, the range short, and 
scarcely a shot fired into that living mass could fail of its 
errand. The debt of blood contracted but a few moments 
before was paid back with interest.’ * In addition to 
the North Carolina troops in A. P. Hill’s division, Whit¬ 
ing’s charge brought into the battle the Sixth North Car¬ 
olina, under Col. I. E. Avery. They joined in the gen¬ 
eral charge, of which Whiting says: “Spite of these terri¬ 
ble obstacles, over ditch and breastworks, hill, batteries 
and infantry, the division swept, routing the enemy 
from his stronghold. Many pieces of artillery were 
taken (14 in all), and nearly a whole regiment of 
the enemy. . . . Lieutenant-Colonel Avery was wounded, 


* Battles and Leaders, II, 363. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


81 


the command devolving upon Maj. R. F. Webb, who 
ably sustained his part. ’ ’ 

Meanwhile, on Porter’s right stubborn work was doing. 
There Porter had placed Sykes’ regulars, the flower of 
his corps, and they were commanded by a persistent 
fighter. D. H. Hill, on the extreme Confederate left, 
and General Jackson, between him and A. P. Hill, moved 
their divisions against these lines. In Jackson’s divi¬ 
sion, the only Carolinians were the Twenty-first, Colonel 
Kirkland, and Wharton’s sharpshooters. Of their part 
in the battle General Trimble says: “The charge of the 
Sixteenth Mississippi and Twenty-first North Carolina 
(with sharpshooters attached), sustained from the first 
movement without a falter, could not be surpassed for 
intrepid bravery and high resolve. ’ ’ 

Anderson’s and Garland’s brigades of D. H. Hill’s 
division were made up entirely of North Carolinians, 
Anderson having the Second, Fourth, Fourteenth and 
Thirtieth; Garland, the Fifth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, 
Twentieth and Twenty-third. To these two brigades, 
stubborn fighters all, belongs the honor of breaking the 
Federal right, and, as they think, thus making the first 
opening in the Federal lines that bloody day. General 
Hill says in his article in “Battles and Leaders:’’ “Brig.- 
Gens. Samuel Garland and George B. Anderson, com¬ 
manding North Carolina brigades in my division, asked 
permission to move forward to attack the right flank and 
rear of the division of regulars. The only difficulty in 
the way was a Federal battery with its infantry supports, 
which could enfilade them in their advance. Two of 
Elzey’s regiments, which had got separated in crossing 
the swamp, were sent by me, by way of my left flank, to 
the rear of the battery to attack the infantry supports, 
while Col. Alfred Iverson, of the Twentieth North Caro¬ 
lina, charged it in front. The battery was captured and 
held long enough for the two brigades (Garland’s and 
Anderson’s) to advance across the plain. ‘The effect of 
No 11 


82 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


our appearance,’ says General Garland, ‘at this opportune 
moment, cheering and charging, decided the fate of the 
day. The enemy broke and retreated. ’ ” Major Ratch- 
ford, of General Hill’s staff, writes: “A short time before 
sunset, Generals Rodes, Anderson and Garland came to 
the writer and asked for General Hill, he being on some 
other part of the line. One of them said to me: ‘Find 
General Hill, and say that unless we get orders to the 
contrary, we will throw our whole strength against one 
part of the line for the purpose of breaking it. ’ I at once 
hunted him up, and he approved the plan. In a few 
minutes a small gap was made, and the Federals gave 
way on each side, as a sand dam will do when a small 
break is made in it. As the yell of victory moved along 
the lines, we could tell that the enemy were giving 
way. This, I claim, was the first breach made in the 
Federal line at Cold Harbor.”* General Jackson had 
this to say of the attack of these brigades: “In advancing 
to the attack, Gen. D. H. Hill had to cross the swamp 
densely covered with undergrowth and young timber. 
On the further edge he encountered the enemy. The 
contest was fierce and bloody. The Federals fell back 
from the wood under protection of a fence, ditch and hill. 

. . . Again pressing forward, the Federals fell back, but 
only to select a position for more obstinate defense, when 
at dark, under pressure of our batteries, ... of the 
other concurring events of the field, and of the bold and 
dashing charge of General Hill’s infantry, in which the 
troops of Brigadier-General Winder joined, the enemy 
yielded the field and fled in disorder.” 

Reilly’s battery, now attached to Whiting’s division, 
was of much service to its commander during this 
engagement. 

On June 29th, General Lee directed Col. L. S. Baker, 
of the First North Carolina cavalry, to move down the 
Charles City road, and, by a bold reconnoissance, find 


* Manuscript Monograph on General Hill’s Life. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


83 


whether the enemy had formed a connecting line with 
the Federal gunboats on the river. Colonel Baker 
moved promptly, but found that the enemy had a heavy 
cavalry force in front of his infantry. “Close action’’ 
seemed the only way to get the desired information, and 
he determined to charge the cavalry, and, if possible, 
drive it in far enough to see what troops were in front of 
him. This he did effectively, and found all of Hooker’s 
corps before him. General McClellan appeared on the 
field a few moments after Baker had retired, and said to 
Captain Ruffin, who had been captured, that the bold 
charge had won his admiration. 

By June 30th, McClellan’s retreating forces had 
reached the intersection of the Long Bridge and Charles 
City roads, just north of Malvern hill. There Long- 
street, supported only by the division of A. P. Hill, 
attacked the position held by the divisions of McCall and 
Kearny, reinforced by the divisions of Sedgwick and 
Hooker and a brigade of Slocum. This was a square 
stand-up fight, with no intrenchments of any sort on 
either side. It had been expected that General Huger 
would engage Slocum, and that General Jackson would 
attack the Federal right, while Longstreet pressed the 
front. However, both Jackson and Huger found it 
impracticable to reach the ground in time. Hence Long- 
street alone struck the blow in which all were expected 
to participate. On opening the battle, General Long- 
street sent Branch’s North Carolina brigade of A. P. 
Hill’s division to his right, to keep Hooker from falling 
on his flank. General Branch said of the action of his 
men: “On Monday, at Frayser’s Farm, you were again 
in the heat of the engagement from its opening to its 
close, driving the enemy before you for a great distance, 
and capturing a battery.”* Lieut.-Col. R. F. Hoke, of 
the Thirty-third North Carolina, reported: “You then 
halted, formed line of battle, and charged, by the double- 


* Congratulatory address to his soldiers. 



84 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


quick and with a yell, the enemy’s batteries, which were 
strongly supported by infantry across this field, a dis¬ 
tance of 500 yards. We, at the same time, were enfiladed 
by grapeshot; neither fire upon the flank or front at all 
stopped the men, but on they pressed, and soon silenced 
the fire.” In this charge, Col. C. C. Lee was killed and 
Colonel Lane wounded. The rest of A. P. Hill’s division 
did not go into action until very late in the afternoon. 
Then Field, followed by Pender with his North Caroli¬ 
nians, pressed eagerly forward. A. P. Hill says: “Gen¬ 
eral Pender, moving up to support Field, found that he 
had penetrated so far in advance that the enemy were 
between himself and Field. A regiment of Federals, 
moving across his front and exposing a flank, was scat¬ 
tered by a volley. Pender continued to move forward, 
driving off a battery of rifled pieces.” It was the 
charge of Field and Pender that finally broke the obsti¬ 
nate line of McCall, to whose hard fighting that day 
Longstreet pays this tribute: ‘ ‘ He was more tenacious of 
his battle than an3 T one who came within my experience 
during the war, if I except D. H. Hill at Sharpsburg. ” 

The failure of all his officers to join Longstreet in this 
battle, in which it had been hoped to deliver a crushing 
blow to McClellan, was a great disappointment to Gen¬ 
eral Lee. A united attack at Frayser’s Farm would have 
saved the costly effusion of blood at Malvern Hill. 

The last battle of the “Great Retreat,” Malvern Hill, 
was, like later Gettysburg, one of those terrific shocks 
of conflict in which, without apparent strategy, without 
apparent remembrance of man’s vulnerability, dauntless 
soldiers were continuously hurled into the muzzles of as 
splendidly served artillery as ever unlimbered on field of 
battle. Presumably, such battles are at times military 
necessities, yet in view of their destructiveness, it is not 
surprising that a Confederate general recalling the 
French officer’s sarcastic comment on the English charge 
at Balaklava, “It is magnificent, but it is not war,” 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 85 

should have declared, “Malvern Hill was magnificent; 
but it was not war, it was murder.” The simple record 
of the destruction wrought in one hour sickens and 
depresses the mind. 

The necessity for further retreat after Frayser’s Farm 
caused General McClellan to send General Porter “to 
select and hold a position behind which the army and all 
its trains could be withdrawn in safety. ’ ’ One glance 
at the natural amphitheater formed by Malvern Hill, 
with its plateau terminating in streams, ravines and 
tangled woods, revealed to Porter’s trained eye that 
there was an ideal place for a defensive battle. The hill 
commanded nearly all the roads. Porter says: “The 
hill was flanked with ravines, enfiladed by our fire. The 
ground in front was sloping, and over it our artillery and 
infantry, themselves protected by the crest and ridges, 
had clear sweep for their fire. In all directions, for sev¬ 
eral hundred yards, the land over which an attacking force 
must advance was almost entirely clear of forest, and 
was generally cultivated. ”* 

All day long on June 30th, and far into the night, 
regiments, brigades, divisions were, as they arrived, 
posted under Porter’s personal direction to take full 
advantage of the crests and depressions. For the first 
time in the Seven Days’ battles, all of McClellan’s army 
was concentrated on one field. Artillery, to do more 
effective service here and at Gettysburg than in any 
other battles of the four years, rumbled heavily into posi¬ 
tion in nature’s own emplacements. As far as the eye 
could see, battery after battery rose tier upon tier 
around the curvature of the hill, the whole surmounted 
by Tyler’s long-range siege guns. Both armies were 
worn by constant fighting by day and marching by night, 
but both nerved themselves for the coming ordeal. With 
a confidence born of previous successes against that same 


* Battles and Leaders. 



86 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


army, General Lee ordered an assault, and the Confed¬ 
erates prepared for the “red wrath of the fray.” 

The Federals, with calm reliance upon their impreg¬ 
nable position, waited their adversaries; none knows 
better than the American soldier when he is, to use his 
own vernacular, “fixed for fighting.” Draper says: 
“There were crouching cannon waiting for them (Con¬ 
federates), and ready to defend all the approaches. Shel¬ 
tered by ditches, fences, ravines, were swarms of 
infantry. There were horsemen picturesquely careening 
over the noontide sun-seared field. Tier after tier of 
batteries were grimly visible upon the slope, which rose 
in the form of an amphitheater. With a fan-shaped 
sheet of fire they could sweep the incline, a sort of nat¬ 
ural glacis up which the assailants must advance. A 
crown of cannon was on the brow of the hill. The first 
line of batteries could only be reached by traversing an 
open space of from 300 to 400 yards, exposed to grape and 
canister from the artillery and musketry from the 
infantry. If that were carried, another and still more 
difficult remained in the rear. ’ ’ 

In the strained, tense hush that precedes a battle, when 
the heart-throbs of even battle-tried soldiers communi¬ 
cate a restless quiver to their bayonet tips, many a North 
Carolina soldier of only a few months’ experience felt that 
in vain would he throw himself against that hill grim 
with the engines of death, and many a lad fresh 
from the family hearth-stone—and there were many such 
there that July day—knew that if he could acquit him¬ 
self nobly when all those guns opened, battle would 
thereafter have few terrors for him. Yet all were ready 
to follow their colors. 

General Lee’s order of battle was that when Ar- 
mistead, who occupied the highest ground, should see that 
the artillery made any break in the Federal front, he 
should charge with a shout, and the other brigades, on 
hearing his advance, should simultaneously attack. Per- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


87 


haps, if according to this order, all the Confederates had 
assaulted Malvern hill in concert, the issue might have 
been less disastrous to them. However, of the ten divi¬ 
sions present, only those of McLaws, D. R. Jones and 
Huger, all under Magruder, on the right, and that of 
D. H. Hill, in the center, dashed against those guns; and 
these two forces attacked separately. 

Three of Armistead’s regiments were ordered by him 
to drive in the Federal skirmishers in his front. “In 
their ardor,’’ says General Armistead, “they went too 
far.” Wright’s Georgia brigade advanced to support 
Armistead, but the gallant little force was soon driven to 
the shelter of a ravine, not, however, before the noise of 
their battle and their shout of attack had produced con¬ 
fusion. Gen. D. H. Hill, hearing the noise of this attack, 
thought it was the preconcerted battle-signal, and obey¬ 
ing his orders, moved his five brigades into action. This 
division contained eleven North Carolina regiments, but 
on the day of this battle the Fourth and Fifth were 
absent on detail duty. In Garland’s brigade were the 
Twelfth, Colonel Wade; the Thirteenth, Colonel Scales; 
the Twentieth, Maj. W. H. Toon; the Twenty-third, 
Lieut. I. J. Young. In Anderson’s brigade, commanded 
at Malvern Flill by Colonel Tew, were the Second, Col¬ 
onel Tew; the Fourteenth, Colonel Johnston; the Thirti¬ 
eth, Colonel Parker. In Ripley’s were the First and 
Third North Carolina, the First under Lieut.-Col. W. P. 
Bynum, of the Second, and the Third under Colonel 
Meares. As Hill’s men moved in, Magruder also ordered 
an advance of his troops, but they were delayed and did 
not get into close action until Hill’s division had been 
hurled back. The Comte de Paris, who was on General 
McClellan’s staff and had excellent opportunities for 
seeing all that was going on, gives this account of the 
charge of Hill’s Carolinians, Georgians and Alabamians : 

Hill advanced alone against the Federal position. . . . 
He had therefore before him Morell’s right, Couch’s divi- 


88 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


sion, reinforced by Caldwell’s brigade . . . and finally 
the left of Kearny. ... As soon as they [Hill’s troopsj 
passed beyond the edge of the forest, they were received 
by a fire from all the batteries at once, some posted on 
the hills, others ranged midway, close to the Federal 
infantry. The latter joined its musketry fire to the can¬ 
nonade when Hill’s first line had come within range, and 
threw it back in disorder on its reserves. While it was 
reforming, new battalions marched up to the assault in 
their turn. The remembrance of Cold Harbor doubles 
the energies of Hill’s soldiers. They try to pierce the 
line, sometimes at one point, sometimes at another, 
charging Kearny’s left first and Couch’s right . . . and 
afterward throwing themselves upon the left of Couch’s 
division. But here, also, after nearly reaching the Fed¬ 
eral position, they are repulsed. The conflict is carried 
on with great fierceness on both sides, and for a moment 
it seems as if the Confederates are at last to penetrate 
the very center of their adversaries and of the formidable 
artillery, which was but now dealing destruction in their 
ranks. But Sumner, who commands on the right, 
detaches Sickles’ and Meagher’s brigades successively to 
Couch’s assistance. During this time, Whiting on the 
left and Huger on the right suffer Hill’s soldiers to 
become exhausted without supporting them. ... At 7 
o’clock, Hill reorganized the debris of his troops in the 
woods . . . his tenacity and the courage of his soldiers 
have only had the effect of causing him to sustain heavy 
loss. 

General Webb says of the same advance: “Garland in 
front (with a North Carolina brigade) attacked the hill 
with impetuous courage, but soon sent for reinforce¬ 
ments. The Sixth Georgia and the brigade of Toombs 
of Jones’ division went to his assistance. General Hill 
in person accompanied the column. They approached the 
crest in handsome order, but discipline was of no avail 
to hold them there, much less to make them advance fur¬ 
ther. They soon retreated in disorder. Gordon had made 
a gallant advance and some progress, as also had Ripley 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


89 


and Colquitt’s and Anderson’s brigades.”* The task 
was, however, too great for their unaided strength, and 
having done all that men dare do, they were driven back 
with frightful loss—a loss, perhaps, of not less than 2,000 
men. 

Just as Hill drew off his shattered brigades, Magruder 
ordered in his forces on Hill’s right. The brigades of 
Armistead, Wright, Mahone, G. T. Anderson, Cobb, 

Kershaw, Semmes, Ransom, Barksdale and Lawton 
threw themselves heavily, not all at once, but in succes¬ 
sion, against their courageous and impregnably posted 
foes. Cobb’s command included the Fifteenth North 
Carolina under Colonel Dowd. Ransom’s brigade was 
solely a North Carolina one—the Twenty-fourth, Col¬ 
onel Clark; the Twenty-fifth, Colonel Hill; the Twenty- 
sixth, Colonel Vance; the Thirty-fifth, Colonel Ransom; 
the Forty-ninth, Colonel Ramseur. General Hill says of 
General Magruder’s assault: 

I never saw an}dhing more grandly heroic than the v 

advance after sunset of the nine brigades under Magru- 
der’s orders. Unfortunately, they did not move together 
and were beaten in detail. As each brigade emerged 
from the woods, from fifty to one hundred guns opened 
upon it, tearing great gaps in its ranks; but the heroes 
reeled on, and were shot down by the reserves at the 
guns, which a few squads reached. ... Not only did 
the fourteen brigades which were engaged suffer, but the 
inactive troops and those brought up as reserves, too late 
to be of any use, met many casualties from the frightful 
artillery fire which reached all parts of the woods, f 

General Porter, whose activity contributed much to the 
success of the Federal troops, bears this tribute to the 
reckless bravery of the whole attacking force : 

As if moved by a reckless disregard of life, equal to 
that displayed at Gaines’ Mill, with a determination to 

* Peninsula Campaign, p. 160 . 

f Battles and Leaders, II, 394 . 

Nc 12 



90 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


capture our army or destroy it by driving it into the 
river, regiment after regiment rushed at our batteries; 
but the artillery of both Morell and Couch mowed them 
down with shrapnel, grape and canister, while our 
infantry, withholding their fire until they were within 
short range, scattered the remnants of their columns. 

. . . The havoc made by the rapidly-bursting shells from 
our guns, arranged so as to sweep any position far and 
near, was fearful to behold. Pressed to the extreme as 
they were, the courage of our men was fully tried. The 
safety of our army—the life of the Union—was felt to be 
at stake.* 

A portion of Ramseur’s regiment slept upon the field 
with a portion of Lawton’s brigade and some other 
troops, and during the night they heard the movement of 
troops and wondered what it meant. In the morning, as 
they surveyed the bloody field of the day before, the 
enemy was gone. “ The volcano was silent.” McClellan 
had, against the protest of some of his generals, contin¬ 
ued his retreat to Harrison’s landing. 

Both armies were terribly demoralized by this sanguin¬ 
ary conclusion to a protracted and exhausting campaign. 
On the day of Malvern Hill, General McClellan tele¬ 
graphed to the adjutant-general, “I need 50,000 men.”f 
Draper says: “Not even in the awful night that fol¬ 
lowed this awful battle was rest allotted to the national 
army. In less than two hours after the roar of combat 
had ceased, orders were given to resume the retreat and 
march to Harrison’s landing. At midnight the utterly 
exhausted soldiers were groping their staggering way 
along a road described as desperate, in all the confusion 
of a fleeing and routed army. McClellan seemed not 
to realize his advantage on that day’s field. 

On the Confederate side there was also much confu¬ 
sion. The army was too much paralyzed to make any 

* Battles and Leaders, II, 418. 

f Rebellion Records, 1, XI, 3, 281. 

\ Civil War in America, II, 414. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


91 


effective pursuit of the Federals, and ? after a few days of 
rest, withdrew to the lines around Richmond. 

As already seen, the North Carolina losses in these 
seven days were: killed, 650; wounded, 3,279. Conspic¬ 
uous among the slain were the following field officers: 
Cols. M. S. Stokes, Gaston Meares, R. P. Campbell, 
C. C. Lee; Lieut.-Cols. Petway and F. J. Faison; Majs. 
T. N. Crumpler, T. L. Skinner, B. R. Huske. These 
were among the State’s most gifted and gallant sons. 
The losses among the company officers were also heavy. 

During the progress of this great campaign, there was 
little fighting in North Carolina, for most of her troops 
were in Virginia, and the Federals around New Bern 
did not show much further activity. Some skirmishing 
occurred around Gatesville, Trenton, Young’s cross¬ 
roads, Pollocksville and Clinton. On the 5th of June, 
there was a collision of an hour’s duration between the 
Twenty-fourth Massachusetts regiment, a few cavalry¬ 
men, and two pieces of artillery on the Federal side, 
and Col. G. B. Singeltary’s Forty-fourth North Carolina 
regiment at Tranter’s creek, near Washington. During 
this engagement Colonel Singeltary was killed. In these 
various actions the Confederate losses were: killed, 8; 
wounded, 17. 


CHAPTER VI. 


THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST POPE—CEDAR MOUNTAIN— 
GORDONSVILLE — WARRENTON—BRISTOE STATION 
—GROVETON—SECOND MANASSAS—CHANTILLY, OR 
OX HILL—POPE DEFEATED AT ALL POINTS. 

T HE result of the battles around Richmond so weak¬ 
ened Federal confidence in General McClellan’s 
ability, that General Halleck was called from the 
West and made commander-in-chief of their armies. 
Previous, however, to his assumption of command, the 
departments of the Rappahannock and the Shenandoah 
were combined into one army, called the army of Vir¬ 
ginia, and Maj.-Gen. John Pope assigned to its command. 
Pope had for corps commanders, Generals Sigel, Banks 
and McDowell, and, as at first constituted, his army 
numbered somewhat over 40,000 men. * As soon as this 
army began to threaten Gordonsville, General Lee, as 
Ropes remarks, “though the whole army of the Potomac 
was within twenty-five miles of Richmond, did not hesi¬ 
tate, on July 13th, to despatch to Gordonsville his most 
trusted lieutenant, the justly celebrated Stonewall Jack- 
son, with two divisions—his own (so-called), com¬ 
manded by Winder, and Ewell’s, comprising together 
about 14,000 or 15,000 men.” Then, when it became 
clear that the peninsula was being evacuated, Jackson 
was reinforced by the division of A. P. Hill. After 
Hill’s juncture, Jackson’s force numbered between 20,000 
and 25,000 men, and the commander sought opportunity 
to strike a favorable blow. 

The opportunity soon came. “Having received infor¬ 
mation,” reports Jackson, “that only a part of General 

* The Army under Pope.—Ropes, p. 3. 


92 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


93 


Pope’s army was at Culpeper Court House, and hoping, 
through the blessing of Providence, to be able to defeat 
it before reinforcements should arrive there, Ewell’s, 
Hill’s and Jackson’s divisions were moved on the 7th in 
the direction of the enemy.” On the 9th he reached 
Cedar mountain, about eight miles from Culpeper, and 
found his old antagonist of the valley, Banks, fronting 
him. Jackson had somewhat the advantage in numbers, 
according to the estimates in “Battles and Leaders.” 
The tables there give “Pope’s effective force on the field 
from first to last” as 17,900, an estimate probably too 
large; Jackson’s “estimated strength on the field, at least 
20,000. ” 

Pope, who was waiting for Sigel to come up, states that 
he did not intend for Banks to attack Jackson with his 
corps, but, as the Confederates advanced, cautiously feel¬ 
ing their way, and themselves preparing to be the assail¬ 
ants, Banks threw the brigades of Prince, Geary, Greene 
and Crawford, and a little later, Gordon, against them. 
The attack came before Jackson’s men had finished their 
battle formation, and while there was still a wide gap 
between two of their brigades. Jackson’s line of battle, 
commencing on the right, stood: Trimble, Forno (Hays), 
Early, Taliaferro, Campbell (Garnett), and Winder’s 
brigade under Colonel Ronald in reserve. In the front 
line, the Twenty-first regiment and Wharton’s sharp¬ 
shooters were the only North Carolina troops, and they 
were not engaged until toward the close of the struggle. 
The front assault of Geary and Prince fell on the brigades 
of Early and Taliaferro, and part of Campbell. While 
Campbell’s men were meeting the front attack, Craw¬ 
ford, who had been sent to their left, fell on their left 
flank. Under this double attack, the left regiments 
retreated in some confusion. General Garnett, who 
hurried there, was wounded, as were Major Lane and 
Colonel Cunningham. The double fire was severe, and 
Campbell’s whole brigade gave way. Crawford pushed 


94 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


on until he struck Taliaferro’s flank. This brigade was 
already hotly engaged with Geary, and as Crawford’s 
men rushed steadily on, a part of Taliaferro’s brigade, 
after a gallant resistance, also fell back. Early, how¬ 
ever, manfully stood firm. Ronald moved up his reserves 
to fill the gap left by Campbell and part of Taliaferro’s 
force, and the battle raged anew. Taliaferro had ener¬ 
getically rallied his men, but the battle was still in doubt 
when Branch’s North Carolina brigade hurried on the 
field, and with a cheer, rushed against Crawford. The 
Seventh regiment was detached, but the Thirty-third, 
Twenty-eighth, Thirty-seventh and Eighteenth moved 
into Campbell’s position and drove back the enemy, who, 
however, made a gallant resistance. General Taliaferro 
says: “At this critical moment the First brigade and 
Branch’s brigade encountered the enemy, confused by 
their severe conflict with the Second brigade, and drove 
them back with terrible slaughter.’’ Just as Taliaferro 
resumed his place in line, Bayard’s cavalry followed its 
brave leader in a charge upon the Confederate line. 
However, the fire of Branch and Taliaferro was too 
galling, and the cavalry broke in disorder. Gordon’s 
Federal brigade now came into action, and gallantly led, 
tried to break the Southern advance; Gordon was, how¬ 
ever, only to waste blood, for he came too late. Archer 
was now up to the front line, and Pender’s North Caro¬ 
lina brigade struck Gordon’s flank. Just at this time, 
Thomas, Early, Forno and Trimble joined the left in a 
general advance, and Banks’ whole line was swept back 
in the gathering darkness. The victory was largely due 
to Branch’s front and Pender’s flank attack, and the 
North Carolina soldiers felt proud of stopping an enemy 
that had just broken the “Stonewall brigade.” Jackson 
says: “At this critical moment, Branch’s brigade, with 
Winder’s brigade farther to the left, met the Federal 
forces, flushed with temporary triumph, and drove them 
back with terrible slaughter through the woods.” Gen. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


95 


A. P. Hill gives even more credit to Branch. He says: 
“Winder’s brigade, immediately in front of Branch, be¬ 
ing hard pressed, broke, and many fugitives came back. 
Without waiting for the formation of the entire line, 
Branch was immediately ordered forward, and passing 
through the broken brigade checked the pursuit, and in 
turn drove them back and relieved Taliaferro’s flank.” 
Latham’s North Carolina battery was also engaged in 
this battle. 

The Union loss in this battle was 2,381; the Confeder¬ 
ate, 1,276. North Carolina’s loss was 15 killed and 102 
wounded. This small loss is due to the fact that the 
Carolinians were under fire for so short a time. The 
brigades of Taliaferro, Early and Thomas were exposed 
during the whole encounter. 

After the battle at Cedar mountain, General Jackson 
moved his command to the vicinity of Gordonsville. 
There General Lee, accompanying Longstreet’s corps, 
joined Jackson, and on the 21st, the Confederate army 
moved toward the Rappahannock. Then followed a 
movement up that stream by both the Federals and Con¬ 
federates; the Federals moving up the north bank as 
Lee’s army moved up the south. 

On the 22d of August, Trimble’s brigade was stationed 
near Welford’s ford on the Hazel river, a tributary of 
the Rappahannock, to protect the flank of the wagon 
train. Bohlen’s Federal brigade was thrown across the 
Rappahannock at Freeman’s ford in an effort to damage 
or capture part of the train. Trimble, supported by 
Hood, attacked Bohlen’s force and drove it back across the 
river. The Federals suffered considerable loss, General 
Bohlen himself being among the slain. In this “sharp 
conflict,” as General Trimble denominates it, the 
Twenty-first North Carolina, Lieutenant-Colonel Fulton, 
attacked the center of the enemy, while Trimble’s two 
other regiments made a detour to the right. “After a 
sharp conflict with the Twenty-first North Carolina,” 


96 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


reports General Trimble, “the enemy were driven back 
to the hills in the rear. ’ ’ There Bohlen made a brave 
stand, but was not strong enough to hold his own against 
the united Confederates. Trimble’s report thus com¬ 
mends Colonel Fulton: “It is specially due Lieutenant- 
Colonel Fulton, of the Twenty-first North Carolina, that 
I should mention the conspicuous gallantry with which 
he took the colors and led his regiment to the charge. ’ ’ 
This brigade was also under fire on the 24th, near War- 
renton, and in the two days the Twenty-first and the 
two attached companies of sharpshooters lost 5 killed 
and 11 wounded. 

There was heavy artillery firing at Warrenton Springs 
on the 24th. There Latham’s North Carolina battery, 
with other batteries, was directed not to reply to the 
enemy’s batteries posted across the river, but to wait for 
the appearance of his infantry passing up the river. 
These orders were carried out, and some loss inflicted. 

On the 25 th, Jackson started on his daring raid to throw 
his command between Washington City and the army of 
General Pope, and to break up Federal railroad communi¬ 
cation with Washington. On the 26th he marched from 
near Salem to Bristoe Station. “Learning,” says his 
official report, “that the enemy had collected at Manas¬ 
sas Junction, a station about seven miles distant, stores 
of great value, I deemed it important that no time should 
be lost in securing them. Notwithstanding the darkness 
of the night and the fatiguing march, which would be 
since dawn over thirty miles before reaching the junc¬ 
tion, Brigadier-General Trimble volunteered to proceed 
there forthwith with the Twenty-first North Carolina, 
Lieut.-Col. S. Fulton commanding, and the Twenty-first 
Georgia, Major Glover commanding—in all about 500 
men—and capture the place. I accepted the gallant offer, 
and gave him orders to move without delay. ’ ’ 

About 9 o’clock the two regiments started, “every man 
setting out with cheerful alacrity to perform the serv- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 97 

ice.”* On approaching Manassas, one regiment was 
formed on the north side and one on the south side of 
the railroad. In this order they moved on in the intense 
darkness, watchwords and responses having been 
arranged. On each side of the railroad the Federals had 
a battery, consisting of four pieces, continuously firing 
toward their foes. The following is General Trimble’s 
account of his success: “The position of the batteries on 
either side of the railroad having been ascertained pretty 
accurately, the word was given, ‘Charge!’ when both 
regiments advanced rapidly and firmly, and in five min¬ 
utes both batteries were carried at the point of the bay¬ 
onet. Sending an officer to the north side of the railroad 
to ascertain the success of the Georgia regiment, he 
could not immediately find them, and cried out, ‘Halloo, 
Georgia, where are you?’ The reply was, ‘Here! all 
right! We have taken a battery.’ ‘So have we,’ was the 
response, whereupon cheers rent the air.” 

In addition to the 8 guns and 300 prisoners taken, 2,000 
barrels of flour, 2,000 barrels of salted pork, 50,000 
pounds of bacon, large supplies of ordnance, 2 trains of 
over 100 cars freighted with every article necessary for 
the outfit of a great army, large quantities of sutler’s 
stores and other valuable supplies fell into Trimble’s 
hands, f The next morning, the 27th, Trimble having 
reported the accomplishment of his mission and asked 
for aid in holding his captures, General Jackson sent the 
divisions of A. P. Hill and Taliaferro to join him at 
Manassas. Ewell, with Jackson’s remaining division, 
was left at Bristoe with orders to fall back if attacked in 
force. As these two divisions moved up to Manassas, 
Branch’s Carolinians had a sharp encounter with one of 
the Federal batteries and its supports, but soon dispersed 
this force. Shortly after Hill’s division arrived, General 

* Trimble’s Report. 

f Trimble’s and Taliaferro’s Official Reports, Rebellion Records, 
XTT. 2. 

No 13 



98 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Taylor with his New Jersey brigade, supported a little 
later by Scammon with an Ohio brigade of two regiments, 
attacked the Confederates, presumably with the intention 
of recapturing the stores. The Eighteenth North Caro¬ 
lina regiment was detached from Branch to guard the 
captured supplies, and the rest of Branch’s brigade joined 
in the chase of Taylor’s men, who had been scattered by 
the brigades of Archer, Field and Pender. General 
Taylor was mortally wounded, and his command driven 
across Bull Run. The Confederates took 200 prisoners, 
and inflicted, according to the itinerary of Taylor’s bri¬ 
gade, “a very severe loss in killed, wounded and miss¬ 
ing.” 

The short supply of rations upon which Confederate 
soldiers did hard marching and harder fighting is well 
illustrated by this sentence from Gen. Samuel McGow¬ 
an’s report: “In the afternoon of that day, the brigade 
returned to the junction (Manassas), where three days’ 
rations were issued from the vast supply of captured 
stores; and the men for a few hours rested and regaled 
themselves upon delicacies unknown to our commissariat, 
which they were in good condition to enjoy, having eaten 
nothing for several days except roasting-ears taken by 
order from the cornfields near the road, and what was 
given by the generous citizens of the Salem valley to the 
soldiers as they hurried along in their rapid march.’’ 

General Jackson’s position was now exceedingly haz¬ 
ardous. His three divisions were separated by a long 
interval from Lee, and Pope was rapidly concentrating 
his entire army to fall upon and destroy him before Lee 
could succor him. McDowell, Sigel and Reynolds, hav¬ 
ing forces greatly outnumbering Jackson’s command, 
were already between him and the army under Lee. 
McDowell felt, as Ropes states, “that if Jackson could 
be kept isolated for twenty-four hours longer, he ought 
to be overwhelmed, horse, foot and dragoons.”* 


* The Army under Pope, p. 67. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


91 ) 


Pope, thinking that Jackson would remain at Manassas, 
wrote McDowell on the 27th, “If you will march promptly 
and rapidly at the earliest dawn upon Manassas Junction, 
we shall bag the whole crowd.” Jackson, however, was 
too active an antagonist “to bag” on demand. Burning 
all the captured stores that his army could not use, he 
withdrew from Manassas with the celerity and secrecy 
that marked all his independent actions, and took posi¬ 
tion north of the Warren ton turnpike, on the battlefield 
of First Manassas. Pope spent all the 28th in a search for 
his missing foe. About sunset that night, Jackson dis¬ 
closed himself by fiercely striking, at Groveton, the flank 
of King’s division of McDowell’s corps while on its 
march to Centreville, where Pope then thought Jackson 
was. This attack was made by the divisions of Ewell and 
Taliaferro. It was gallantly met by Gibbon and Double¬ 
day, both fine soldiers, and lasted until 9 o’clock. The 
opposing forces fought, as Gibbon states, at a distance of 
75 yards, and the engagement was a most sanguinary 
one. Trimble’s brigade, containing the Twenty-first 
North Carolina and Wharton’s battalion, took a conspic¬ 
uous part, and met with a brigade loss of 310 men. The 
loss in the North Carolina commands was 26 killed and 
37 wounded. Among the killed was Lieut.-Col. Saun¬ 
ders Fulton, commanding the Twenty-first, who had 
greatly distinguished himself by coolness and daring. 

The next day began the two days of desperate fighting 
at Second Manassas, or Bull Run. North Carolina had 
eleven regiments and one battalion of infantry and two 
batteries of artillery engaged in these battles: In Law’s 
brigade was the Sixth regiment, Maj. R. F. Webb; in 
Trimble’s, the • Twenty-first and First battalion; in 
Branch’s brigade, the Seventh, Capt. R. B. MacRae; the 
Eighteenth, Lieutenant-Colonel Purdie; the Twenty- 
eighth, Col. J. H. Lane; the Thirty-third, Lieut.-Col. 
R. F. Hoke, and the Thirty-seventh, Lieut.-Col. W. M. 
Barbour; in Pender’s brigade, the Sixteenth, Capt. L. W. 


100 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Stowe; the Twenty-second, Maj. C. C. Cole; the Thirty- 
fourth, Col. R. H. Riddick, and the Thirty-eighth, Cap¬ 
tain McLaughlin; Latham’s battery, Lieut. J. R. Potts, 
and Reilly’s battery, Capt. James Reilly. 

On the morning of the 29th, Jackson was in position 
along the line of an unfinished railroad, and Longstreet, 
having passed Thoroughfare gap, was marching in haste 
to reunite the two armies. Jackson’s line extended from 
near Groveton, on the Warrenton pike, almost to Sud- 
ley’s Springs. His own division held his right, Ewell 
the center, and A. P. Hill the left. In Sigel’s morning 
attack on Jackson’s right, an attack which made little 
impression, no North Carolina troops were under fire. 
However, in the afternoon, the Union forces, showing a 
pertinacity and heroism rarely equaled, rushed contin¬ 
uously against Jackson’s obstinate Southerners. The 
puzzled Federals had been searching for Jackson, and 
now that they had found him, they wanted to end the 
search. In their repeated assaults, the Carolinians and 
their comrades on the left found foes of their own mettle. 
Hooker and Kearny and Reno were ordered to advance 
simultaneously against Jackson’s center and left. Grover, 
of Hooker’s division, however, led his five regiments into 
battle ahead of Kearny, and made one of the most bril¬ 
liant charges of the war. He succeeded in crowding 
into a gap between Gregg’s and Thomas’ brigades, and 
reached the railroad. There he was fiercely driven back, 
and lost 486 men in about twenty minutes. So close was 
the fighting that bayonets and clubbed muskets were 
actually used.* The dashing Kearny, aided by Stevens, 
next fell on Hill’s left. Branch’s and Pender’s North 
Carolinians and Early’s Virginians had moved up to rein¬ 
force the front lines, and for some time the line of battle 
swayed forward and backward. General Jackson had 
ordered his brigade commanders not to advance much to 
the front of the railroad, and so they never pressed their 


* Grover’s Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


101 


advantages far. When Branch advanced, part of the 
Seventh regiment under Capt. McLeod Turner was 
deployed as skirmishers around Crenshaw’s battery. The 
Thirty-seventh regiment first became engaged. The 
Eighteenth and Seventh marched to its aid. Col. R. F. 
Hoke, with the Thirty-third, was further to the left, and 
gallantly advanced into the open field and drove the 
enemy from his front. The Twenty-eighth, under Col¬ 
onel Lane, fought determinedly in conjunction with 
Field’s left. Finally this brigade, Gregg’s and Field’s, 
succeeded in freeing their front of the enemy. This 
was done, however, only after prolonged and costly 
effort. Pender, seeing that Thomas was in sore need of 
support, moved his brigade against the enemy, who had 
reached the railroad cut, and there, after a struggle, 
forced back the foe occupying the portion of it in his 
front, and drove him behind his batteries. He moved 
alone, and after waiting in vain for support to attack the 
batteries, retired unmolested to the railroad line. Dur¬ 
ing this battle, General Pender was knocked down by a 
shell, but refused to leave the field. The official reports 
of both sides bear testimony to the unyielding spirit with 
which this contest was waged. Gen. A. P. Hill, to 
whose division both Pender and Branch belonged, says: 
“The evident intention of the enemy this day was to 
turn our left and overwhelm Jackson’s corps before Long- 
street came up, and to accomplish this the most persist¬ 
ent and furious onsets were made by column after column 
of infantry, accompanied by numerous batteries of artil¬ 
lery. Soon my reserves were all in, and up to 6 o’clock, 
my division, assisted by the Louisiana brigade of General 
Hays, commanded by Colonel Forno, with a heroic cour¬ 
age and obstinacy almost beyond parallel, had met and 
repulsed six separate and distinct assaults.” 

Meanwhile, Longstreet had reached the field and taken 
position. At 6:30 o’clock, King’s division, under Gen¬ 
eral Hatch, encountered Hood’s Texas and Georgia bri- 


102 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gade and Law’s brigade of North Carolinians, Alabami¬ 
ans and Mississippians. The Southerners had made a 
toilsome journey to help their comrades, and Longstreet 
says they welcomed the opportunity. “Each,” reports 
Hood, the senior commander, “seemed to vie with the 
other in efforts to plunge the deeper into the ranks of the 
enemy.”* Longstreet comments: “A fierce struggle of 
thirty minutes gave them advantage,which they followed 
through the dark to the base of the high ground held by 
bayonets and batteries innumerable, as compared with 
their limited ranks. Their task accomplished, they were 
halted to wait the morrow. ’ ’ f 

Law’s men drove off three guns and captured one. 
Law states in his report that this gun was fought until 
its discharges blackened the faces of his advancing men. 
“What higher praise,” exclaims Ropes, “could be given, 
either to the gunners or their antagonists? ” J 

That night, General Lee, knowing that the forces 
would again join battle in the morning, readjusted his 
entire line. All of Jackson’s men were moved into their 
original and strong position along the unfinished railroad, 
and Longstreet’s corps was aligned on Jackson’s right. 
Pope mistook these movements fora retreat, and tele¬ 
graphed, ‘‘ The enemy is retiring toward the mountains. ’ ’ 
Little did he then anticipate how he was to be swept 
across Bull Run by that “retreating army” next day. 

On the morning of the 30th, General Pope, seemingly 
yet unaware that Longstreet was in position to strike his 
left, massed the commands of Porter, King, Hooker, 
Kearny, Ricketts, and Reynolds in a final effort to crush 
Jackson. Not all the men ordered against Jackson 
joined in the heavy assaults on his weakened lines. Still, 
that afternoon enough pressed the attack home to make 
it doubtful whether his three divisions could stand the 


* Advance and Retreat, p. 34. 
f Manassas to Appomattox, p. 184. 
\ The Army under Pope, p. 108. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


103 


strain, hence he sent to General Lee for another division. 
Longstreet and Hood had, however, both gone ahead of 
their troops, and they saw that the best way to relieve 
the pressure on Jackson was by artillery. Straightway 
Chapman’s, then Reilly’s North Carolina battery, and 
then Boyce’s came rolling into position and opened a 
destructive enfilade fire on Jackson’s assailants. “It was 
a fire that no troops could live under for ten minutes,” is 
Longstreet’s characterization of the work done by these 
batteries, soon added to by all of Col. S. D. Lee’s guns. 
The Federal lines crumbled into disorder from the double 
fire, but again and again they stoutly reformed, only at 
last to be discomfited. Jackson’s troops were fighting 
in almost the same positions as on the day before. 
Branch’s brigade was, however, so far to the left that it 
was not in close action on the 30th. The Carolinians in 
Trimble’s brigade, although not in the action of the day, 
had a day of anxiety, as guards to Jackson’s trains that 
had been threatened by a cavalry attack. Pender was 
kept on the left until Archer and Thomas were severely 
pressed. Then his brigade and Brockenbrough’s were 
put in, and all together repulsed the assault. 

When Longstreet saw the enemy’s attack on Jackson 
fairly broken, he ordered his whole corps to advance 
on the right. This movement in such force was not 
expected by Pope, and in spite of McDowell’s efforts the 
left was at once pushed back. For the possession of the 
Henry house hill, so vital to the Federal retreat, both 
sides fiercely contested, and the dead lay thick on its 
sides. General Law reports that he united the Sixth 
North Carolina with his other regiments in a charge on a 
destructive battery near the Dogan house, and drove the 
gunners from it. His whole brigade was active during 
the afternoon’s fight. Law also reports that Major Webb 
handled his men with consummate ability. Jackson had 
joined in the forward movement, and the Federal army 
had been slowly driven off the entire field. In the 


104 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


advance of Jackson, Archer’s, Thomas’ and Pender’s 
brigades acting in concert had rendered most effective 
service. Latham’s and Reilly’s batteries contributed 
their full share to this victory. 

The Federal army retreated toward Fairfax, and Jack- 
son was sent in pursuit over the Little River road. Near 
Germantown was fought, on the ist of September, what 
the Confederates call the battle of Ox Hill. The Fed- 
erals name it Chantilly. As soon as Jackson overtook 
the Federals, he deployed for attack, and the battle was 
fought during a terrific storm. The brigades of Branch 
and Brockenbrough were sent forward to develop the 
enemy’s force, and were soon hotly engaged, and Branch 
was exposed to a heavy fire in front and on his flank. 
General Hill, whose brigades were mainly engaged, says: 
“Gregg, Pender, Thomas and Archer were successively 
thrown in. The enemy obstinately contested the ground, 
and it was not until the Federal generals, Kearny and 
Stevens, had fallen in front of Thomas’ brigade,that they 
were driven from the ground. They did not retire far 
until later in the night, when they entirely disappeared. 
The brunt of this fight was borne by Branch, Gregg and 
Pender. ’’ 

Col. R. H. Riddick, whose power as a disciplinarian 
and ability as a field officer had made the Thirty-fourth 
regiment so efficient, was mortally wounded there, as 
was Maj. Eli H. Miller, and Captain Stowe, commanding 
the Sixteenth North Carolina. The fighting on both 
the Confederate and the Federal side during this cam¬ 
paign was such as is done only by seasoned and disciplined 
troops, commanded by officers of mettle and ambition. 
In modern war, the range of the rifle has about broken 
up personal conflict, and lines of battle do not often come 
in close contact; but in these engagements around 
Manassas, hand-to-hand fighting actually occurred. Gen¬ 
eral Grover reports that, in his charge on Jackson, bay¬ 
onet wounds were given; on the right a Confederate col- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


105 


onel was struck in the head with a musket; in front of 
the “deep cut,” Gen. Bradley Johnson saw men stand¬ 
ing in line and fighting with stones, and at least one man 
was killed with these antiquated weapons. General Hood 
states that after the night battle on the 28th he found 
the Confederates and Federals so close and so intermin¬ 
gled “that commanders of both armies gave orders for 
alignment, in some instances, to the troops of their 
opponents.” In some cases, volleys were exchanged at 
such short range that “brave men in blue and brave men 
in gray fell dead almost in one another’s arms.” Gen¬ 
eral Johnson reports that he noticed “a Federal flag hold 
its position for half an hour within ten yards of a flag of 
one of the regiments (Confederate) in the cut, and go 
down six or eight times, and that after the fight 100 
dead men were lying twenty yards from the cut and some 
of them within two feet of it.” General Gregg’s reply, 
“I am out of ammunition, but I think I can hold my place 
with my bayonets,” breathes the spirit of Manassas. 
The result of the campaign was most gratifying to the Con¬ 
federates. Pope, despite the fact that he unfortunately 
entered upon his new command with the declaration, “I 
have come to you from the West, where we have always 
seen the backs of our enemies, ’ ’ had been forced back 
from Gordonsville to the Washington lines. His total 
battle casualties had been 16,843,* and Lee had captured 
from him thirty pieces of artillery and upward of 20,000 
small-arms,f to say nothing of the stores at Manassas. 

The North Carolina losses in the two days and one night 
at Manassas were as follows: killed, 70; wounded, 448. 
At Ox Hill, or Chantilly, they were: killed, 29; wounded, 
i 39 - 

* Official Records, Series 1, XII, n, 262,139. 

f Lee's Report. 


Nc 14 



CHAPTER VII. 


LEE’S MARYLAND CAMPAIGN—THE MARCH TO FRED¬ 
ERICK CITY—THE “LOST ORDER” — MOUNTAIN 
BATTLES — CRAMPTON’S GAP — BOONSBORO — VIG¬ 
OROUS SKIRMISHING—THE SURRENDER OF HAR¬ 
PER’S FERRY BY THE FEDERALS —BATTLE OF 
SHARPSBURG OR ANTIETAM—FIRST NORTH CARO¬ 
LINA CAVALRY WITH J. E. B. STUART IN PENN¬ 
SYLVANIA. 

I MMEDIATELY after the . Rappahannock campaign, 
General Lee, desiring if possible “to inflict futher 
injury upon the enemy” before the season for active 
operations passed, and believing that the best way to re¬ 
lieve Virginia was to threaten the North, decided to enter 
Maryland. He took the step fully aware that his army 
was poorly prepared for invasion. He knew, as he says, 
“that his army was feeble in transportation, the troops 
poorly supplied with clothing, and thousands of them des¬ 
titute of shoes, ’ ’ still he rightly felt that seasoned as his 
men were by active service, and filled with enthusiasm 
and confidence as they were by their successes, he could 
rely on them for much self-denial and arduous campaign¬ 
ing. Moreover, the prospect “of shifting the burden of 
military occupation from Confederate to Federal soil, ” 
and of keeping the Federals out of Southern territory, 
at least until winter prohibited their re-entering, was 
alluring. Accordingly, he ordered the divisions of D. H. 
Hill and McLaws and Hampton’s cavalry, which had been 
left to protect Richmond, to join him. These forces 
reported to the commander-in-chief near Chantilly on 
the 2d of September. Between the 4th and the 7th, the 
entire Confederate army crossed the Potomac at the fords 


106 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 107 

near Leesburg, and encamped in the vicinity of Freder¬ 
ick City. 

Of this army, thirty regiments of infantry, one battal¬ 
ion of infantry, one cavalry regiment, and four batteries 
were from North Carolina. These were distributed as 
follows: The Fifteenth regiment was in McLaws’ divi¬ 
sion; Ransom’s brigade of four regiments was under 
Walker, as also were the Twenty-seventh, Forty-sixth and 
Forty-eighth; the Sixth was with Hood; the Twenty-first 
and the First battalion were in Ewell’s division; Branch 
with five regiments, and Pender with four, were under 
A. P. Hill; Garland with five, Anderson with four, and 
Ripley with two regiments were in D. H. Hill’s division. 
The cavalry was under Stuart, and the batteries were 
scattered. 

It had been supposed that as the Confederates advanced, 
the Federal garrisons at Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg 
would be withdrawn. Although General McClellan ad¬ 
vised this, General Halleck prevented it. So, General 
Jackson, General McLaws and General Walker were sent 
to invest these places, and the rest of the army—Long- 
street’s and D. H. Hill’s divisions—was ordered to cross 
South mountain and move toward Boonsboro, where 
the army was to be concentrated on the fall of Harper’s 
Ferry. 

Meanwhile, General McClellan, Pope having been re¬ 
lieved of command, was advancing by slow stages toward 
his adversaries, and cautiously trying to discover their 
intentions. On the 13th he reached Frederick, just after 
it had been evacuated by the Confederates. There he 
received, says Longstreet, such a complete revelation of 
his adversary’s plans and purposes as no other com¬ 
mander, in the history of war, has ever received at a 
time so momentous.* A copy of Lee’s celebrated 
order No. 191, frequently known as the “lost dispatch,” 
was found by Private Mitchell, of the Twenty-seventh In- 


* From Manassas to Appomattox. 



103 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


diana regiment, and at once transmitted through Colonel 
Colgrove to general headquarters. This “tell-tale slip 
of paper” revealed to General McClellan that Lee’s army 
was divided, that Harper’s Ferry was to be invested; in 
addition, it “gave him the scarcely less important infor¬ 
mation where the rest of the army, trains, rear guard, 
cavalry and all were to march and to halt, and where the 
detached commands were to join the main body.”* As 
this important order was addressed to a North Carolina 
general, D. H. Hill, it should be stated here that it was 
neither received by him nor lost by him. General Hill’s 
division was at that time attached to General Jackson’s 
command, and hence, in accordance with military usage, 
he received all his orders through General Jackson. 
This fact seems to have been overlooked by some one at 
General Lee’s headquarters when this order was pre¬ 
pared, and a copy of it was started to General Hill, but 
never reached him. By whom it was lost will probably 
never be known. General Hill, in a letter to the editors 
of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, (Vol. II, p. 570, 
note), says: “I went into Maryland under Jackson’s com¬ 
mand. I was under his command when Lee’s order was 
issued. It was proper that I should receive that order 
through Jackson, and not through Lee. I have now be¬ 
fore me the order received from Jackson. My adjutant- 
general made affidavit twenty years ago that no order 
was received at our office from General Lee. But an 
order from Lee’s office, directed to me, was lost and fell 
into McClellan’s hands. Did the courier lose it? Did 
Lee’s own staff officers lose it? I do not know.” The 
copy that reached Hill was in Jackson’s own handwriting. 
So important did that officer consider the order that he 
did not trust his adjutant to copy it, but made the copy 
himself. With like care, General Hill preserved the 


* The Antietam and Fredericksburg, p. 22. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 109 

order then, and preserved it until his death. Who lost 
the order from General Lee is not known, but it is abso¬ 
lutely certain that General Hill did not lose it. 

To relieve Harper’s Ferry and to strike the divided 
Confederates, it became necessary for McClellan to pass 
through the gaps of South mountain, for the direct turn¬ 
pike by Knoxville was not suited to military purposes. 
He accordingly put his army in motion “to cut the enemy 
in two and beat him in detail. ” * Franklin and Couch 
were to move through Crampton’s gap, and their duty 
was first to cut off, destroy, or capture McLaws’ com¬ 
mand, and relieve Colonel Miles “at Harper’s Ferry; if 
too late to aid Miles, they were to turn toward Sharps- 
burg to prevent the retreat of Longstreet and D. H. Hill, 
who were to be attacked by the main body. All the rest 
of McClellan’s army set out, by way of Turner’s gap and 
Fox’s gap, for Boonsboro. This main part of the army 
was intended to crush Longstreet and D. H. Hill, and 
then to join Franklin against Jackson, McLaws, and 
Walker. 

So unexpected was the movement, and so successfully 
did the Federals mask the march of their army on the two 
gaps, that General Stuart’s cavalrymen, ever untiring and 
daring, had not found out up to the time of attack on 
these gaps that McClellan’s whole army was before them. 
When the cannon opened at Crampton’s gap, General 
McLaws, who heard it from Maryland heights, attached 
no special significance to it. He says in his official re¬ 
port, “I felt no particular concern about it.and 

General Stuart, who was with me on the heights and had 
just come in from above, told me that he did not believe 
there was more than a brigade of the enemy. ’’ This “bri¬ 
gade” turned out to be Slocum’s division of Franklin’s 
corps, and Smith’s division of the same corps was soon 
added. The gap at that time was held only by Colonel 
Munford with two regiments of cavalry, Chew’s battery, 


* Order to Franklin, September 13 th. 



110 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

and a section of the Portsmouth naval battery, supported 
by “two fragments of regiments” of Mahone’s brigade, 
under Colonel Parham. Colonel Munford reports that the 
two infantry regiments numbered scarcely 300. This small 
band made a most determined stand for three hours, for 
it had been directed to hold the gap at all hazards, and 
did not know that it was fighting Franklin’s corps. The 
action began about noon. Gen. Howell Cobb with 
his brigade, consisting of the Fifteenth North Carolina 
regiment and three Georgia regiments, left Brownsville, 
two miles from the gap, about 5 o’clock, to reinforce 
Munford. On their arrival they went promptly at their 
enemies. Weight of numbers soon broke their thin line, 
and left the gap to Franklin. Manly’s battery was en¬ 
gaged here all day, and General Semmes reports that it 
“did good service in breaking the enemy’s line” by its 
deliberate and well-directed fire. Cobb’s total force, as 
stated by him,* “did not exceed 2,200,” while Franklin’s, 
as given by him,f “hardly exceeded 6,500.” However, 
the last “field returns” gave Franklin a force greatly in 
excess of those figures. Semmes’ and Wilcox’s brigades, 
that had been ordered up, did not reach the ground until 
during the night. Cobb’s brigade loss was 690. The 
Fifteenth North Carolina lost 11 killed, 48 wounded, 124 
captured or missing. McLaws ordered his brigades all 
up that night and set them in battle order, but Franklin 
did not press him the next morning. 

While this action was going on, a conflict in which much 
larger forces were engaged was in progress at Turner’s 
gap of South mountain. This action lasted from early 
morning until after dark, and, first and last, many troops 
took part; but until afternoon it was a series of small 
battles rather than a connected struggle. This was 
due to the fact that the Confederates, in small force in the 
morning, were trying to hold the gap, which was wide 


* Official Report, 
f Battles and Leaders, II, 595. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 111 

and traversed by many roads. Hence their forces had to 
be scattered. But the defense made by these scattered 
brigades against odds was persistent and heroic. On the 
13th, Stuart reported that his cavalry was followed by two 
brigades of infantry, and asked D. H. Hill, whose forces 
were closest to South mountain, to send a brigade to 
check the Federals at the foot of the mountain. Owing 
to long field service and poor equipment, Southern bri¬ 
gades were at that time very small.* So instead of one 
brigade, Hill sent Garland’s North Carolina brigade and 
Colquitt’s Georgia brigade. Colquitt’s brigade was 
posted by General Hill across the National turnpike. 
The Twenty-third and Twenty-eighth Georgia were 
placed behind a stone wall. Garland’s North Carolina 
brigade took position at Fox’s gap, on the old Sharps- 
burg road, and to the right of Colquitt. Garland had 
five regiments, but the five amounted to a little less 
than 1,000 men. “The Fifth regiment, Colonel Mc¬ 
Rae, then Captain Garnett, was placed on the right 
of the road, with the Twelfth, Captain Snow, as its sup¬ 
port. The Twenty-third, Colonel Christie, was posted 
behind a low stone wall on the left of the Fifth; then came 
the Twentieth, Colonel Iverson, and the Thirteenth, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Ruffin. From the nature of the 
ground and the duty to be performed, the regiments 
were not in contact, and the Thirteenth was 250 yards to 
the left of the Twentieth. Fifty skirmishers of the Fifth 
North Carolina soon encountered the Twenty-third Ohio, 
deployed as skirmishers under Lieut.-Col. R. B. Hayes 
(afterward President of the United States), and the 
action began at 9 a. m. between Cox’s division and Gar¬ 
land’s brigade, f 

Against Garland’s 1,000 men, General Cox, of Reno’s 
corps, led the brigades of Scammon and Crook, stated by 

* At the battle of Boonsboro, many of the regiments reported un¬ 
der 150 men to the regiment. 

f General Hill, in Battles and Leaders, II, 563. 



112 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Cox as “less than 3,000. ” “The Thirteenth North Caro¬ 
lina, under Lieutenant-Colonel Ruffin, and the Twentieth, 
under Col. A. Iverson, were furiously assailed on the left. 
Both regiments were under tried and true soldiers, and 
they received the assault calmly. Lieutenant Crome ran 
up a section of artillery by hand, and opened with effect 
upon the Twentieth North Carolina; but the skirmishers 
under Captain Atwell of that regiment killed the gallant 
officer while he was serving as a gunner. The Federal 
effort was to turn the left where the Thirteenth was 
posted. ’ ’ * There General Garland, who had been urged 
by Colonel Ruffin not to expose himself so needlessly, was 
killed. “Upon the fall of Garland, Colonel McRae 
assumed command, and ordered the two regiments on 
the left to close in to the right. This order was not re¬ 
ceived, or it was found to be impossible of execution. The 
main attack was on the Twenty-third North Carolina be¬ 
hind the stone wall. ’ ’ Its namesake, the Twenty-third 
Ohio, seems to have been particularly zealous in this 
attack. The Federals had a plunging fire upon this regi¬ 
ment from the crest of a hill, higher than the wall, and 
only about 50 yards from it. The Twelfth North Caro¬ 
lina, only 72 men strong, could not offer much aid. It 
was, says Minor, commanded by an inexperienced captain, 
and under his order fell back and was thrown in some 
disorder from a severe fire, but nearly half of its mem¬ 
bers attached themselves to the Thirteenth, and received 
Colonel Ruffin’s commendation for bravery and “effi¬ 
cient aid. ’ ’ The fight in front of the wall was of the stub- 
bornest nature. Some of the Ohio men broke through a 
gap, and for a few seconds bayonets and clubbed muskets 
were brought into play. Cox’s numbers enabled him to 
fall on both flanks of the Carolinians, and this, with an 
assault on their center, broke them in confusion. Gar¬ 
land’s death at the most critical time had also a depress¬ 
ing effect. Colonel Ruffin and part of his regiment were 


* General Hill, in Battles and Leaders. 





CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


113 


entirely surrounded at one time, but fought their way 
out with great gallantry. 

With the breaking of Garland’s brigade, the enemy had 
no one in his front. Colquitt’s brigade could not be 
moved from its important position, and Hill’s other bri¬ 
gades had not come up. General Hill, in desperation, ran 
two guns down from above, and, to give the appearance of 
infantry support, formed behind them a dismounted line 
of staff officers, teamsters, cooks and couriers. General 
Cox, however, did not know that he had an open front, 
and remained stationary. Half an hour later, Gen. 
G. B. Anderson arrived with his small North Carolina 
brigade. Anderson was sent to hold one of the two 
roads to the right of the turnpike, and nearer than the 
one on which Garland met his death. General Rosser 
with one regiment of cavalry and a few pieces of artillery 
occupied the other, and behaved gallantly during the 
day. Anderson made a gallant effort to recover the 
ground lost by Garland, but failed. Shortly after, Rodes’ 
brigade reached the field and was ordered to a command¬ 
ing position considerably to the left of Colquitt. Ripley 
on arriving was directed to attach himself to Anderson’s 
left. Anderson, thus strengthened, moved the Second 
and Fourth North Carolina forward to see what was in his 
front, and the Fourth was fired into by a whole brigade, 
which, however, did not follow the Fourth as it moved 
back to its position. A skirmish line attack on Colquitt 
was driven back. While waiting for reinforcements, all 
Hill’s available artillery was kept busy. General Cox, 
from his article in “Battles and Leaders,” evidently 
thought that up to this time he had fought Hill’s whole 
division, whereas he had engaged only two brigades of it. 

About 3:30 p. m., Col. G. T. Anderson’s brigade and 
Drayton’s brigade, of Longstreet’s corps, arrived after an 
exhausting march of fourteen miles from Hagerstown. 
These brigades were sent to Ripley’s left, and took posi¬ 
tion in front of Cox. In some way, Ripley’s brigade got 

Nc la 


114 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


out of line and marched backward and forward without 
finding its position, and “did not fire a gun all day. ” 
General Hill now ordered his men forward. He had 
already found from an early morning observation that 
General McClellan’s large army was advancing on the 
pass, and while such an advance made his position haz¬ 
ardous, he was relieved to find McClellan in his front in 
such force, for the Confederates had feared that the Fed- 
erals would cross nearer to Crampton’s and strike 
McLaws’ rear before Harper’s Ferry surrendered. 
While Longstreet’s brigades were reaching the top of the 
mountains, the Federals were steadily marching heavy 
columns up to push their way through. Reno’s other 
divisions, Willcox, Sturgis, Rodman, joined Cox and 
formed on the Confederate right. The First corps under 
Hooker, consisting of three divisions of 42 regiments of 
infantry, 10 batteries and cavalry, formed on the Con¬ 
federate left to attack the position held by Rodes. Gib¬ 
bon, of this corps, advanced on the National turnpike 
against Colquitt. Before the general advance in the 
afternoon, the Federals had, according to General McClel¬ 
lan, 30,000 men; according to “Battles and Leaders of 
the Civil War,’’ 23,778 men on the field of battle. The 
Confederates at no time during the day had over 9,000 
men on the field, and at the time of the opening attack 
on Rodes’ position, Hill’s division of less than 5,000 
men had been reinforced by only the brigades of G. T. 
Anderson and Drayton and Hood’s two. 

The general advance in the afternoon divided itself 
into three separate actions—that on the Confederate 
right, that on the extreme left, and that against Colquitt 
near the center. The attack on the right was made by 
Reno’s corps. This fell on Anderson’s and a portion of 
Garland’s North Carolinians, Drayton’s South Carolinians 
and Georgians, and less heavily on G. T. Anderson’s 
Georgians. Drayton’s men were heavily attacked and 
broken. The other brigades held their own, with Hood’s 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


115 


assistance, and while there were frequent advances and 
retreats, remained on their line till withdrawn for 
Sharpsburg. On the left, Rodes’ gallant brigade of 
1,200, attacked by the whole of Meade’s division of 
Hooker’s corps, made one of the most memorable stands 
of the war. Although fairly enveloped, he reformed and 
fought repeatedly, his men perfectly controlled, until at 
dusk Evans brought him relief enough to save him from 
destruction. Hatch’s division advanced in beautiful 
order between Meade and Gibbon. As these brigades 
moved forward at first, there was not a Confederate sol¬ 
dier to oppose them. The brigades of Kemper and of Gar¬ 
nett from Longstreet arrived, jaded and worn, but just in 
time to form in the face of Hatch. These two brigades, 
together not numbering over 800 men,* fought Hatch’s 
men, numbering 3,500 men,f and held their own until 
both sides, exhausted, fell asleep within 100 yards of 
each other. 

Gibbon made, just before dark, a furious attack on Col¬ 
quitt’s men posted across the pike. This assault was 
especially directed against Colquitt’s two brave regi¬ 
ments behind the stone fence. Gibbon lost 318 of his 1,500 
men, but failed to move Colquitt from his advantageous 
position. 

During this day of scattered battles, many gallant offi¬ 
cers and men on both sides were killed or wounded. Of 
the Federals, General Reno, commanding a corps, was 
killed by the Twenty-third North Carolina. J General 
Hatch was wounded, as were also Colonels Gallagher and 
Wainwright, both commanding brigades. The death of 
General Garland was a serious loss to the Confederates. 
Daring to the point of recklessness, courteous, just and 
upright, he had completely won the affection of his Caro¬ 
lina brigade, which followed him with the utmost loyalty 
and confidence. 

* Battles and Leaders, II, 575. 

f Hatch’s Report. 

\ McRae’s Report. 



116 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


That night General Lee determined to withdraw his 
troops and concentrate on Sharpsburg. Maj. J. W. 
Ratchford, of General Hill’s staff, one of the bravest of 
the brave, was sent in company with staff officers from 
General Longstreet’s and General Hood’s commands to 
give the requisite orders. So close were the contending 
lines, that Major Ratchford says that in some places 
they had to approach the lines on hands and knees and 
give the orders in a whisper. The retirement to Sharps¬ 
burg was made in good order and covered by the cavalry, 
which during the Maryland campaign was kept busy. 
The day before the battles just described, the First North 
Carolina cavalry, Col. L. S. Baker, had taken part in a 
sharp artillery and cavalry fight at Middletown. Colo¬ 
nel Baker’s regiment held the rear, and, General Stuart 
says, acted with conspicuous gallantry. General Hamp¬ 
ton says of the same battle that this regiment was ex¬ 
posed to a severe fire of artillery and musketry, which it 
bore without flinching; nor was there the slightest con¬ 
fusion in its ranks. The regiment had eight men 
wounded, and Captain Siler lost a leg. 

On the 15th, Harper’s Ferry surrendered, and the 
troops operating against it were free to hasten a junc¬ 
tion with Lee, now seriously endangered. Nothing but 
the desperate resistance to the Federal advance at the 
mountain gaps saved Lee, for this check to the move¬ 
ment of the Federalsgave Jackson and his comrades time 
to receive the surrender of Harper’s Ferry, and then to 
reach Sharpsburg early enough to participate in that 
great battle. During the investment of this beautiful 
place, the divisions of Jackson, McLaws and Walker had 
co-operated. McLaws, on the north bank of the river, 
seized Maryland heights and placed his artillery in posi¬ 
tion where it did execution. General Walker approached 
on the Hillsboro road. At the foot of Loudon heights, 
he sent Colonel Cooke with the Twenty-seventh North 
Carolina to occupy the heights. Batteries were then 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 117 

established, and on the 14th engaged in an artillery duel 
with the enemy, in which Maj. F. L. Wiatt, of the Forty- 
eighth North Carolina, was wounded, and one or two pri¬ 
vates were also struck. General Jackson moved by way 
of the Winchester & Harper’s Ferry railroad. On near¬ 
ing the town, General Pender, in command of his own, 
Archer’s and Brockenbrough’s brigades, was sent to seize 
a crest overlooking the town, which was done with slight 
loss. This eminence was that night crowned with artil¬ 
lery. Generals Branch and Gregg marched along the 
river and occupied the plains in rear of the enemy’s 
works. Ewell’s division was moved into position on 
Schoolhouse hill, and other batteries were placed. On 
the 15th, all the guns on both sides opened with much 
noise and little destruction. Just as General Pender 
prepared to move his infantry forward in assault, a white 
flag was displayed, and General White, the commanding 
officer, surrendered 11,000 men, 73 pieces of artillery, 
13,000 small-arms, and other stores.* 

After a brief rest, Jackson and Walker started to join 
their commander. “By a severe night march,’’ they 
reached Sharpsburg about noon on the 16th. General 
Walker says: “The thought of General Lee’s perilous 
situation, with the Potomac river on his rear, confronting 
with his small force McClellan’s vast army, had haunted 
me through the long hours of the night’s march. ”f 
A. P. Hill and McLaws followed Jackson, arriving during 
the battle when they were sorely needed. When Jackson 
and Walker reported for position, General Lee’s ground 
had been selected, and he had placed Longstreet on his 
right and D H. Hill to Longstreet’s left. The line of 
battle extended along a slight crest, parallel to the Antie- 
tam river, and just in front of the village of Sharpsburg. 
General Jackson was assigned to the extreme left, his 
right connecting with Hill’s left, and his line at first 


* Jackson’s Report. 

f “Sharpsburg,” Battles and Leaders, II, 675. 



118 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


being almost parallel to the Hagerstown turnpike. Gen¬ 
eral Walker was first placed on Longstreet’s right, but 
subsequently moved to reinforce the left. 

The Confederate army had now been continuously en¬ 
gaged since early spring. It had not had the rest that a 
large part of McClellan’s army enjoyed while Pope was 
engaging Lee. In this campaign its marches had been 
long and its men so badly clothed and fed that the 
straggling, even of good soldiers, was enormous. Hun¬ 
gry men may fight well, but they do not march well. 
Moreover, many of Lee’s men had been wounded more 
than once during the year and their bodies were con¬ 
sequently frail, and hard service and hunger told fear¬ 
fully on these weakened men. Hence it was with largely- 
depleted ranks that Lee faced McClellan at Sharpsburg. 
The Federals, on the other hand, had moved slowly from 
around Washington, had an abundant commissariat, and 
were well clothed and in all respects well supplied. 

On the afternoon of the 16th, Hooker crossed the Antie- 
tam without opposition, and after a sharp assault on 
Hood’s brigades, which had been moved to D. H. Hill’s 
left before Jackson’s arrival, bivouacked on that side of 
the river. The Sixth North Carolina was engaged in 
this attack on Hood. During the night Hood was with¬ 
drawn to allow his men, “who had been without food for 
three days, except a half ration of beef for one day, and 
green corn,’’ to cook. The brigades of Trimble and 
Law, of Jackson’s corps, took Hood’s place on the line, 
Trimble connecting with Hill. During the night the 
Federals were not idle. General Mansfield, with the 
Twelfth corps, crossed and moved up behind Hooker. 
This made five Federal divisions ready to fall on the 
Confederate left in the morning. 

Before daylight on the 17th, the reverberation of can¬ 
non along the sluggish Antietam ushered in the most 
bloody one day’s shock of battle yet seen on the western 
continent. Before merciful night intervened to stop 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


119 


the fratricidal strife, 11,657 Federal soldiers lay dead or 
wounded on the river slopes, and almost 10,000 South¬ 
erners lay near them. The choicest soldiers of two great 
armies of countrymen had met, wrestled to sheer exhaus¬ 
tion for victory, and yet, as the day closed, the line of 
battle stood nearly as it began. 

As soon as it was light enough to see, Hooker moved 
his three divisions against the Confederate left flank. 
The attack fell first on Jackson, and Ripley, of D. H. 
Hill’s left, went to his aid, and fierce and bloody was the 
encounter. “The two lines,’’ as Palfrey says, “almost 
tore each other to pieces.’’ The carnage was simply 
frightful, and yet it was only beginning. Between 6 
and 7 o’clock Mansfield pressed forward to support Hook¬ 
er. The Twenty-first North Carolina and the First bat¬ 
talion, of Ewell’s division, and the First and Third regi¬ 
ments of D. H. Hill’s division were so far the only North 
Carolina troops engaged. Hood is now sent for, and the 
Sixth regiment, Major Webb, enters with him. G. T. 
Anderson enters to brace the Confederate left. Double¬ 
day’s attack was driven back, Gibbon and Phelps suffer¬ 
ing terribly; the Confederates, however, were repulsed 
in an effort to follow their advantage. Hofmann and 
Ricketts, and subsequently Mansfield’s brigades, moved 
further toward the Confederate center, and this brought 
into action the brigades of Colquitt and Garland, of D. H. 
Hill’s division. Garland’s brigade was commanded by 
Col. D. K. McRae, and included the Fifth, Twelfth, Thir¬ 
teenth, Twentieth and Twenty-third North Carolina regi¬ 
ments. The artillery, under Col. S. D. Lee and Major Fro- 
bel, watched for its opportunity, moved for every com¬ 
manding position, and was most handsomely served. Dur¬ 
ing this time men had fallen as leaves fall. So thick 
were men lying that General Hood found difficulty in 
keeping his horse from stepping on wounded men. On 
the Federal side, General Mansfield was killed; Generals 
Hooker, Hartsuff, Crawford and many subordinates were 


120 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

wounded. On the Confederate side, General Starke and 
Colonel Douglass, commanding Lawton’s brigade, had 
been killed; Generals Lawton, D. R. Jones and Ripley 
wounded. A third of the men of Lawton’s, Hays’ and 
Trimble’s brigades were reported killed or wounded. Of 
Colquitt’s field officers, 4 were killed, 5 wounded, and the 
remaining one struck slightly. All of Jackson’s and D. H. 
Hill’s troops engaged suffered proportionately.* 

As Mansfield’s men of the Twelfth corps deployed, 
Hooker’s corps, worn from its struggle with Jackson, 
withdrew up the Hagerstown pike. General Longstreet 
says: “Walker, Hood and D. H. Hill attacked against the 
Twelfth corps; worn by its fight against Jackson, it was 
driven back as far as the post and rail fence on the east 
open, where they were checked. They (the Confederates) 
were outside of the line, their left in the air, and exposed 
to the fire of a 30-gun battery posted at long range on the 
Hagerstown ridge by General Doubleday. Their left 
was withdrawn and the line rectified, when Greene’s bri¬ 
gade of the Twelfth resumed position in the northeast 
angle of the wood, which it held until Sedgwick’s divi¬ 
sion came in bold march.’’ 

The Sixth Regiment History says of the part of that 
command: “The enemy’s guns in our front poured shot 
and shell in us while we were exposed to a cross-fire from 
his long-range guns, posted on the northeast side of An- 
tietam creek. . . . Our line was called into action, and 
moved to the front on the Snaketown road, and 
between it and the Hagerstown pike. The front 
line had made a noble stand, but they were being 
pressed back. The enemy with fresh lines was 
pushing forward when we met them. Here it was 
that, for the first time in the war, I saw men fix 
their bayonets in action, which they did at the com¬ 
mand of General Hood, who was riding up and down the 
line. We broke their line and held our place for awhile, 


* Manassas to Appomattox, p. 243. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


121 


but the enemy was bringing up fresh columns and over¬ 
lapping our left, and we were forced back. The enemy 
seemed to be overcoming us until our left was reinforced 
by troops ordered from our right. They engaged the 
enemy and drove them back of the Dunker church, and 
our lines were re-established.” The Twenty-first, com¬ 
manded by Capt. F. P. Miller, who was killed during the 
battle, along with the Twenty-first Georgia, was posted 
by Colonel Walker, commanding Trimble’s brigade, be¬ 
hind a stone fence, and, says General Early, “concentrat¬ 
ing their fire upon a part of the enemy’s line in front of 
the latter [regiment], succeeded in breaking it. ” Colonel 
Thruston, of the Third North Carolina, gives this picture 
of the part of Ripley’s brigade in the action on the left: 

The house being passed, the Third North Carolina in¬ 
fantry mounted over the fence and through the orchard, 
when the order was given to change direction to the left 
to meet the pressure upon General Jackson, near what is 
known as the Dunker church. This change of front 
was admirable, though executed under heavy fire of infan¬ 
try and artillery. Owing to this change, our line of bat¬ 
tle was 500 yards further to the left than it was in the 
early morning, and brought us in close connection with 
the troops of the right, and in the deadly embrace of the 
enemy. I use the word embrace in its fullest meaning. 
Here Colonel DeRosset fell, severely wounded and per¬ 
manently disabled, Captain Thruston taking command at 
once. It was now about 7 130 a. m. Jackson’s troops were 
in the woods around, and west of the Dunker church 
and north of the Sharpsburg-Hagerstown turnpike. As 
we came up he advanced and drove the enemy back 
across a cornfield and into a piece of woods east and 
north of the church. Here the enemy, being reinforced 
by Mansfield’s corps, returned to the assault, and the 
fighting became desperate for an hour. The two weak 
divisions of Jackson and one brigade of D. H. Hill 
fought and held in check the six* divisions of Hooker 
and Mansfield; so tenaciously did their brave troops 
cling to the earth, that when reinforced by Hood and two 

* There were only five present. 

Nc if? 



122 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


brigades of D. H. Hill, they were still north of the pike 
and contending for every inch of ground between it and 
the cornfield in front. At the moment when their am¬ 
munition was absolutely exhausted and all had been used 
from the boxes and pockets of dead comrades, the rein¬ 
forcements of Hill and Hood, above referred to, came up 
and stayed the tide for a short time. Now Sumner with 
his three divisions put in appearance, when our thin 
lines were slowly pressed back by the weight of num¬ 
bers into the woods, and beyond the church to the edge 
of a field to the south, through which the divisions of 
Walker and McLaws were hurrying to our assistance. 

Garland’s brigade under Colonel McRae went into ac¬ 
tion with alacrity, but owing to an unfortunate blunder of 
one of the captains, several of its regiments became 
unsteady and fell back in much confusion. The Twenty- 
third, General Hill reports, was kept intact, and moved to 
the sunken road. Portions of this brigade were rallied 
by Colonel McRae and Captain Garnett and others, and 
again joined in the battle. 

A little before ten, General Walker, having been or¬ 
dered from the right, pushed into the smoke and confu¬ 
sion of combat just behind Hood. Walker’s division, 
consisting of Walker’s own brigade and Ransom’s bri¬ 
gade, was, with the exception of two regiments, composed 
of North Carolinians. His own brigade, under Manning 
and then under Col. E. D. Hall, of the Forty-sixth North 
Carolina, included the Twenty-seventh, Col. J. R. Cooke; 
the Forty-sixth, Colonel Hall, and the Forty-eighth, 
Cob R. C. Hill, North Carolina regiments; and Ran¬ 
som’s brigade comprised the Twenty-fourth, Col. J. L. 
Harris; the Twenty-fifth,Col. H. M. Rutledge; the Thirty- 
fifth, Col. M. W. Ransom, and the Forty-ninth, Lieut.- 
Col. L. M. McAfee, North Carolina regiments. As Gen¬ 
eral Walker went in, he was notified that there was a gap 
of a third of a mile to the left of General Hill, and he 
detached the Twenty-seventh North Carolina and the 
Third Arkansas, under Col. J. R. Cooke, of the Carolina 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


123 


regiment, to fill this gap, and well did they carry out 
their instructions. General McLaws’ division from Har¬ 
per’s Ferry entered coincidently with Walker at 10:30.* 
The second stage of the battle has now been reached. 
Hooker has retired and Mansfield has been brought to a 
stand. Jackson, worn and exhausted, has retired. Hood’s 
brigade has been so cut to pieces that when its daunt¬ 
less commander was asked, “Where is your division?’’ he 
answered, “Dead on the field.’’ D. H. Hill’s three bri¬ 
gades have been drawn in, and only a small force 
guards the Confederate left. At this moment General 
Sumner marched against the Confederates with the Sec¬ 
ond corps of three divisions. General Sumner, as quoted 
by Longstreet, thus described the field when he ad¬ 
vanced: “On going on the field, I found that General 
Hooker's corps had been dispersed and routed. I passed 
him some distance in the rear, where he had been carried 
wounded, but I saw nothing of his corps at all, as I was 
advancing with my command on the field. There were 
some troops lying down on the left which I took to belong 
to Mansfield’s command. In the meantime, General Mans¬ 
field had been killed, and a portion of his corps (formerly 
Banks’) had also been thrown into confusion.” Sedg¬ 
wick, of Sumner, was in the lead, and his three brigades 
moved toward the Dunker church and left it a little to 
their left. Just then there were not enough Confederates 
in his front to stop a brigade, but Walker, as seen above, 
was just arriving and McLaws was supporting him, and 
Early made splendid use of his brigade. Walker at the 
head of his six North Carolina regiments and two others, 
“charged headlong,’’ says Gen. J. D. Cox, who com¬ 
manded the extreme Federal left, “upon the left flank 
of Sedgwick’s lines, which were soon thrown into con¬ 
fusion; and McLaws, passing by Walker’s left, also 
threw his division diagonally upon the already broken 
and retreating lines of Sumner. Taken at such disad- 


* Walker, in Battles and Leaders, II, p. 678. 



124 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


vantage, these had never a chance, and in spite of the 
heroic bravery of Sumner and Sedgwick, with most of 
their officers (Sedgwick being severely wounded), the 
division was driven off to the north with terrible 
losses, carrying along in the rout part of Williams’ men, 
of the Twelfth corps.”* Palfrey says: “Nearly 2,000 
men were disabled in a moment. ’ ’ Then he adds, with 
a candor rare among some Federal participants: “The 
jubilant assertions of Confederate officers in regard to 
the repulse of Sedgwick’s divisions are not more than 
the facts warrant. They did ‘drive the enemy before them 
in magnificent style;’ they did ‘sweep the woods with per¬ 
fect ease;’ they did ‘inflict great loss on the enemy;’ they 
did drive them ‘not only through the woods, but (some of 
them, at any rate) over a field in front of the woods, and 
over two high fences beyond and into another body of 
woods (i. e., the east woods) over half a mile distant from 
the commencement of the fight.’ ”f 

In this rout of Sedgwick, the North Carolina regi¬ 
ments were destructive participants, Walker’s division 
containing them being, as stated by Cox, the first to 
start the rout. On the right, Colonel Manning, com¬ 
manding a brigade, took the Forty-sixth and Forty-eighth 
North Carolina and Thirteenth Virginia, “and dashed 
forward in gallant style, crossed the open field beyond, 
driving the enemy before them like sheep until, arriving 
at a long line of strong post and rail fences, behind which 
heavy masses of the enemy’s infantry were lying, their 
advance was checked; these regiments, after suffering a 
heavy loss, were compelled to fall back to the woods.”]; 
General Walker, however, mistakes about this advance 
being checked by Mansfield’s men at this fence, so often 
mentioned in reports of this battle; for, as Lieut. W. F. 
Beasley has shown, the Forty-eighth (and perhaps the 

* Battles and Leaders, II, 644. 

f Antietam and Fredericksburg, p. 91. 

% Walker’s Official Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


125 


others) “not only reached this fence, but drove the enemy 
from it, passed over and far beyond it (some 75 yards) 
before Lieut.-Col. S. H. Walkup ordered the regiment to 
fall back.’’* In the retirement of this regiment, Colonel 
Manning, a native of Pitt county, was severely wounded, 
and Col. E. D. Hall succeeded to the command of the 
brigade. To the left, General Ransom’s brigade of Caro¬ 
linians drove the enemy from the woods in its front, and 
then, with grim determination, held, for the rest of the 
day, that important position, called by General Walker 
“the key of the battlefield,’’ in defiance of several sharp, 
later infantry attacks. Ransom’s men endured a pro¬ 
longed fire from the enemy’s batteries on the extreme 
edge of the field. General Walker reports: “True to 
their duty, for eight hours our brave men lay upon the 
ground, taking advantage of such undulations and shal¬ 
low ravines as gave promise of partial shelter, while this 
fearful storm raged a few feet above their heads, tearing 
the trees asunder, and filling the air with shrieks and 
explosions, realizing to the fullest the fearful sublimity 
of battle. ’ ’ Colonel Ransom, of the Thirty-fifth regi¬ 
ment, left in command of the brigade by the temporary 
absence on official duty of General Ransom, withstood a 
serious attack and led his command in a hot pursuit. 
The Twenty-seventh North Carolina and Third Arkansas 
regiments, left to guard the gap in the lines already men¬ 
tioned, fought as an independent little brigade. Their 
conduct was so conspicuously gallant that it received the 
special commendation of the commander-in-chief, a corps 
commander, and two division commanders. 

“Thus,’’ comments Palfrey upon Sedgwick’s defeat at 
the end of the second stage of this great battle, “by 10 
o’clock the successes of the morning were lost.’’ The 
disappearance of Sedgwick ended the serious fighting 
on the left. But Sumner’s remaining divisions, com¬ 
manded by French and Richardson, were already on the 


* Our Living and Dead, I, 330. 



126 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


march against the Confederate center. The center was 
held by D. H. Hill. Three of his brigades had been 
used since early morning in the battle on the left; of 
these, Ripley’s, the first to be engaged, had retired with 
Walker; Garland’s had been badly broken; Colquitt’s, 
after the fall of most of its officers, was withdrawn, but 
some of its men in desultory squads went back to active 
work on the line. So Hill was left with only the Ala¬ 
bama brigade of Rodes and the North Carolina brigade 
of G. B. Anderson to stand against the divisions of 
French and Richardson. To his left, the Twenty-sev¬ 
enth North Carolina and Third Alabama of Walker’s 
brigade were still bravely in line. Against these two 
brigades and some regimental fragments, Richardson and 
French moved. “They came,’’ says General Longstreet, 
“in brave style, in full appreciation of the work in hand, 
marched better than on drill, unfolded banners making 
gay their gallant step.” But these were no holiday sol¬ 
diers; they struck long and hard,* and in vastly superior 
force. 

So immovably, however, did the battle-tried North 
Carolinians and Alabamians, aided later by R. H. An¬ 
derson’s division, f die in piles on the sunken road in 
which they fought, that they have made it immortal as 
“Bloody LanV’ Colonel Allan says: “After a most 
gallant resistance, Hill was driven from the Bloody Lane. 
Anderson was involved in the defeat, and it looked as if 
the enemy was about to pierce the Confederate center. 
The noble efforts of many brave men prevented this 
result. The artillery was managed and served with a 
skill never surpassed. Fragments of commands fought 
with a splendid determination. As General Longstreet 
says, the brave Col. J. R. Cooke (Twenty-seventh North 
Carolina) showed front to the enemy when he no longer 

* The losses in these two divisions in their attack on the center 
were 2,915. 

f Rebellion Records, Vol. XIX, p. 191, et seq. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


127 


had a cartridge. Such instances of gallantry as Long- 
street relates of his own staff did much to encourage our 
men. The manner in which Longstreet, D. H. Hill and 
other officers of high rank exposed themselves, contributed 
to the result, and though, as General Longstreet says, 
some ground was gained and held at this point by the Fed- 
erals, the attempt to break through the center failed.”* 

Without any disparagement of the gallantry of the 
attackers, it must be said that their gaining the Bloody 
Lane was not entirely the result of their fighting, good 
as that was. General Rodes, whose men were in most 
excellent positions, having profited by their experience 
as campaigners and piled rails in front of the sunken 
road, ordered Colonel Lightfoot to turn his regiment to 
the left so as to meet an enfilade fire. Lightfoot seems 
to have misunderstood, and drew his men out of line and 
told the next regiment that the order was intended also 
for it. General Rodes was, at the time the movement 
began, aiding a wounded comrade, and was at the same 
time struck by a fragment of a shell. Before he could 
correct the mistake, the enemy poured into the gap. 
The withdrawal of these regiments, as unexpected to 
their commanders as it probably was to their enemies, 
gave their earnest assailants their first advantage. 

While bravely discharging his duty in tips part of the 
field, Gen. George B. Anderson, of North Carolina, re¬ 
ceived a wound that proved mortal. It is stated that he 
was the first officer in regular army service at the time to 
resign his commission to join the Confederacy, and he 
served his new government with zeal, ability and devo¬ 
tion. He was a man of winning manners, warm heart, 
modest manliness and intense love of truth. No man in 
service had gained more steadily the admiration and 
respect of his own men and officers, and the confidence of 
his superior officers. 

There remains now only the final stage of this day of 


* Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XIV, p. 114. 



128 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


slaughter. This was the attack of Burnside’s corps, 
mainly directed by General Cox, as Burnside was in 
command of one of the wings. To make this attack, the 
corps thought it necessary to carry what has since been 
known as Burnside’s bridge across the Antietam, held by 
two regiments and a part of a regiment from General 
Toombs’ brigade. No more gallant deed was done that 
day than the defense of this bridge by those devoted 
Georgia regiments. The enemy, however, found a ford, 
and by attack from the men who crossed there and a 
direct assault on the bridge carried it. This was fol¬ 
lowed by the attack of this corps on the Confederate 
right, held by the division of D. R. Jones, in which there 
were no North Carolina troops. Jones’ men stood man¬ 
fully to their lines, but while his left baffled the efforts of 
Burnside’s men, his right was overlapped and broken. 
At this crisis, A. P. Hill’s division, after a hard march of 
17 miles, deployed into battle line without a moment’s 
breathing spell, and their fearless onslaught decided the 
day on the right. In his brigades were two purely North 
Carolina ones, Branch’s and Pender’s. General Long- 
street, to whose corps Jones belonged, thus describes the 
close of the battle: 

When General Lee found that General Jackson had left 
six of his brigades under Gen. A. P. Hill to receive the 
property and garrison surrendered at Harper’s Ferry, he 
sent orders for them to join him, and by magic spell had 
them on the field to meet the final crisis.* He ordered 
two of them, guided by Captain Latrobe, to guard against 
approach of other forces that might come against him by 
bridge No. 4, Pender’s and Brockenbrough’s, and threw 
Branch’s, Gregg’s and Archer’s against the forefront of 
the battle, while Toombs’, Kemper’s and Garnett’s 
engaged against its right. . . . Pegram’s and Crenshaw’s 
batteries were put in with A. P. Hill’s three brigades. The 
Washington artillery, S. D. Lee’s and Frobel’s, found 
places for part of their batteries, ammunition replenished. 

* Thomas’ brigade was left behind to finish at Harper’s Ferry, so 
Hill had only five. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


129 


D. H. Hill found opportunity to put in parts of his artillery 
under Elliott, Boyce, Carter and Maurin. Toombs’ 
absent regiments returned as he made his way around to 
the enemy’s right, and joined the right of Gen. D. R. 
Jones. The strong battle concentrating against General 
Burnside seemed to spring from the earth as his march 
bore him further from the river. Outflanked and stag¬ 
gered by the gallant attack of A. P. Hill’s brigades, his 
advance was arrested. . . . General Cox, reinforced by 
his reserve under General Sturgis, handled well his left 
against A. P. Hill; but assailed in front and on his flank 
by concentrating fires that were crushing, he found it 
necessary to recover his lines and withdraw. A. P. Hill’s 
brigades, Toombs and Kemper, followed. They recov¬ 
ered McIntosh’s battery and the ground that had been 
lost on the right, before the slow advancing night drop¬ 
ped her mantle upon this field of seldom equaled strife. ”* 

Gen. A. P. Hill reports of his brigades: “With a yell 
of defiance, Archer charged them, retook McIntosh’s 
guns, and drove them back pellmell. Branch and Gregg 
with their old veterans sternly held their ground, and 
pouring in destructive volleys, the tide of the enemy 
surged back. ’’ 

Pender’s brigade was not actively engaged. In Branch’s, 
General Lane says that the Twenty-eighth was detached, 
and with the Eighteenth, was not seriously engaged. 
The Thirty-third, Seventh and Thirty-seventh were the 
regiments principally engaged. They fought well, and 
assisted in driving back three separate and distinct col¬ 
umns of the enemy. 

The artillery came in for a full share of fighting in this 
campaign. Latham’s, Manly’s, and Reilly’s batteries did 
hard service. Manly’s was especially commended for 
active and accurate service at Crampton’s gap. At 
Sharpsburg, Major Frobel, chief of artillery, highly ap¬ 
plauds Reilly’s conduct of his guns. He reports: “I cannot 
too highly applaud the conduct of both officers and men. 
Captains Bachman and Reilly fought their batteries with 

* Manassas to Appomattox, pp. 261, 262. 

No 17 



130 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


their usual determination and devotion to the cause. ” 
Captain Reilly’s first lieutenant, J. A. Ramsey, who that 
day fought his section for a time under the direct per¬ 
sonal orders of General Lee, is also commended for 
gallant conduct. 

In this brilliant close to a hard day’s battle, North Caro¬ 
lina lost a gifted son in the death of General Branch. 
His commander, Gen. A. P. Hill, said of him: “The 
Confederacy has to mourn the loss of a gallant soldier 
and accomplished gentleman, who fell in this battle at 
the head of his brigade, Brig.-Gen. L. O’B. Branch, of 
North Carolina. He was my senior brigadier, and one to 
whom I could have intrusted the command of the division 
with all confidence.” For a time in this campaign he 
did command the division. Just as his brigade had so 
gloriously helped to shatter the columns of his old New 
Bern adversary, General Burnside, he fell dead on the 
field. General Branch had achieved high honors in civil 
life. These he had given up to serve his country man¬ 
fully in the field, and he was rapidly working toward the 
highest rank when he fell, as soldiers love to die—at the 
head of a victorious command. Major Gordon, of the 
adjutant-general’s office, says that on the very day Gen¬ 
eral Branch was killed, he had been appointed major-gen¬ 
eral, but that the government, hearing of his death, never 
issued his commission. Sutton says of his death: “No 
country had a truer son, or nobler champion, no princi¬ 
ple a bolder defender than the noble and gallant soldier, 
Gen. Lawrence O’Brian Branch.” 

General Lee lost about one-third of his army on this 
field of blood. The next day, however, he remained on 
the field, defiant and ready to meet any new attack Mc¬ 
Clellan might order, but his enemy had suffered enough 
and made no move. That night he quietly crossed the 
Potomac “without loss or molestation.” General Pen¬ 
dleton, with the reserve artillery and about 600 infantry, 
was left to guard the ford near Shepherdstown. General 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


131 


Griffin headed some volunteers from four regiments, 
crossed the river, and driving off Pendleton’s infantry, 
captured three or four pieces of artillery. The next 
morning, some brigades from the divisions of Morell and 
Sykes crossed the river. Their crossing and advance were 
protected by numerously posted batteries on the Federal 
side. Gen. A. P. Hill’s division was ordered by General 
Jackson to drive these forces across the Potomac. Hill 
advanced with the brigades of Pender, Gregg and 
Thomas, in his front line, Lane (Branch’s brigade), Archer 
and Brockenbrough in his second. The advance of these 
brigades was made in the face of “a tremendous fire of 
artillery. ’ * The infantry in front of Gregg and Thomas 
was in small force and “soon brushed away.” Pender 
met a sharp infantry fire. His Carolinians were not 
retarded, however, and Archer’s brigade and Lane, with 
his North Carolinians, supporting them, the small force in 
front was soon driven across the Potomac. These 
brigades remained under artillery fire the rest of the day. 
General Pender in his report pays a high compliment to 
the Twenty-second regiment, commanded by Maj. C. C. 
Cole. He says: “In the Twenty-second the list (for 
good conduct) will be rather long, as it is upon it and its 
commander that I usually call when any special or dan¬ 
gerous services are to be performed. ” There have been 
many exaggerated statements made as to the Federal 
losses in this battle. Their official reports itemized show 
a total loss of only 363. 

The total North Carolina losses in the invasion of 
Maryland so far as they are officially reported were, killed, 
335; wounded, 1,838. This official list, however, does 
not include the casualties in the Fifth, Twelfth and Four¬ 
teenth regiments. The following field officers, or acting 
field officers, were killed or mortally wounded: Gen. 
L. O’B. Branch, Gen. G. B. Anderson, Col. C. C. Tew, 
and Capts. W. T. Marsh and D. P. Latham, commanding 
Fourth North Carolina. The following field officers, or 


132 


CONFEDERATE MI LIT A R Y HIS TOR Y. 


acting field officers, were wounded: Cols. Van H. Man¬ 
ning, R. T. Bennett, F. M. Parker, W. L. DeRosset; 
Lieut-Cols. Sanders, W. A. Johnston, Thomas Ruffin 
(three times); Majs. R. F. Webb and S. D. Thruston; 
Captains (commanding regiments) S. McD. Tate and 
E. A. Osborne. 

In October, Gen. J. E. B. Stuart made a daring cavalry 
expedition into Pennsylvania. In this expedition the 
First North Carolina cavalry, Lieut.-Col. J. B. Gordon, 
took part. General Hampton in his official report com¬ 
mends the regiment, and especially the squadron com¬ 
manded by Capt. W. H. H. Cowles, which had some 
special duties assigned to it. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


THE FREDERICKSBURG CAMPAIGN—AFFAIRS IN NORTH 
CAROLINA—SUPPLIES FOR TROOPS BROUGHT BY 
THE ADVANCE—ENGAGEMENTS IN NORTH CARO¬ 
LINA—BATTLE NEAR GOLDSBORO—NORTH CARO¬ 
LINA TROOPS IN THE WESTERN ARMY—BATTLES 
OF MURFREESBORO AND STONE RIVER. 

T HE last great battle of 1862 was fought on the 
hills around Fredericksburg. There, seeing the 
design of the Federal commander, General Lee con¬ 
centrated his army to await attack. General McClellan 
had been displaced by the Federal authorities on the 
8th of November, and General Burnside appointed 
to succeed him as commander in the field. The new 
leader, yielding to public pressure for some success 
before the year closed, prepared to attack Lee in his 
chosen position. Burnside had organized his army into 
three grand divisions, under Sumner, Hooker and Frank¬ 
lin. The first weeks in December, these grand divisions 
were stretched along the northern bank of the Rappa¬ 
hannock, and were searching for ways to cross over for 
an attack. On the southern side of the river, Lee’s army 
was posted on the hills and ridges just back of Freder¬ 
icksburg. His line extended parallel to the river, and 
stretched from a point just across from Falmouth to 
Hamilton’s crossing, a distance of about three miles. His 
left was under Longstreet, and his right under Jackson. 
R. H. Anderson’s division formed the extreme left of 
Longstreet. His line reached from Taylor’s hill to the 
foot of Marye’s hill. There, in the famous sunken road 
behind a stone wall, Cobb’s brigade of McLaws’ division 
was posted. On the left of Cobb and on the prolongation 


133 


134 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of his line, the Twenty-fourth North Carolina stood. 
General Ransom was in charge of a North Carolina divi¬ 
sion of eight regiments, and this was assigned place behind 
McLaws on the reserve line, and immediately behind the 
crest of Marye’s and Willis’ hills. The immediate care 
of this important point was committed to General Ran¬ 
som. The eight regiments of this division formed two 
brigades, one Ransom’s own, the other Cooke’s. To 
Ransom’s right was Pickett, and then Hood holding 
Longstreet’s right. In Hood’s division there were three 
North Carolina regiments. Jackson’s troops were 
massed along the line of the Fredericksburg & Poto¬ 
mac railroad. A. P. Hill held the front line without 
much cover. Pender’s North Carolina brigade, Lane’s 
North Carolina brigade, and Archer’s mixed brigade were 
on A. P. Hill’s front line. They were supported by the 
brigades of Thomas, Gregg and Brockenbrough, respect¬ 
ively. Taliaferro and Early formed a third line, and 
D. H. Hill’s division was in reserve. Marye’s hill was 
occupied by the Washington artillery; the reserve artil¬ 
lery was on its right and left. The division batteries of 
Anderson, Ransom and McLaws, including Manly’s North 
Carolina battery, were stationed along the line. On 
Jackson’s front, fourteen pieGes of artillery, including a 
section of Latham’s battery, were posted under Lieuten¬ 
ant-Colonel Walker, and Stuart’s horse artillery and cav¬ 
alry were on Jackson’s right flank. North Carolina had 
present in the army thus drawn up, thirty-two regiments 
and one battalion of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, 
and three batteries of artillery. Two division commanders 
and six brigade commanders were also from the same 
State. 

General Burnside arranged to cross the river by pon¬ 
toon bridges. Franklin’s grand division was not opposed, 
and his men made the passage near Deep run without 
difficulty. Sumner’s grand division in front of the 
town, however, was so harassed by Barksdale’s Missis- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


135 


sippi sharpshooters that every effort to lay the bridges 
was futile. Finally, regiments enough to attack Barks¬ 
dale were sent over in boats under cover of a fearful can¬ 
nonade from 147 guns on Stafford hills. After Barks¬ 
dale was withdrawn, the right grand division crossed 
on the pontoon bridges. Burnside ordered Franklin’s 
grand division to attack the position held by Jackson. 
Reynolds’ corps was selected, and he advanced Meade’s 
division, supported on the right by Gibbon’s division; and 
then, when Meade was fired upon on his left, Doubleday’s 
division was advanced to Meade’s left. Meade’s attack 
fell first on Lane’s brigade of North Carolinians. In the 
general alignment, Lane’s brigade did not join Archer’s 
brigade on his right by, Lane says, 600 yards. Into this 
interval the enemy marched, thus turning Lane’s right 
flank and Archer’s left. Lane’s Thirty-seventh and 
Twenty-eighth regiments, under Colonels Barbour and 
Stowe, stationed on the left, made a resolute stand, but 
were firmly pressed back. The Thirty-third, Colonel 
Avery, checked the enemy for a few moments and even 
essayed to charge, but found its effort unsupported. The 
Eighteenth, Colonel Purdie, fell back firing until it 
reached the woods. The Seventh, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hill, had been ordered across the railroad to support a 
battery, and had acted with gallantry. It was now sent 
for, but the brigade was pushed out of line before the 
message was delivered. Thomas then moved his brigade 
to Lane’s support, and, with the Eighteenth and Seventh 
formed on his left, pushed the enemy back across the 
railroad. Lane’s brigade had made a bold stand and 
gave ground only after what General Lee called “a brave 
and obstinate resistance.” Gen. A. P. Hill reported that 
the Twenty-eighth and Thirty-seventh ‘‘continued to 
fight until their ammunition was exhausted and were 
then quietly and steadily retired from the field.” 
Archer’s left regiments were broken, and the enemy 
pushed gallantly on to the second line. Three brigades 


136 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of Early’s division were called to the front, and these 
uniting their efforts to those of tne other troops, Meade’s 
men were driven back with great loss. Only one of 
Early’s three brigades contained any North Carolina 
troops. That was Trimble’s brigade, commanded by a 
North Carolina colonel, R. F. Hoke. In this brigade 
were the Twenty-first North Carolina and the First bat¬ 
talion. General Early says of the charge of this brigade: 
“I ordered Hoke to advance to his [Archer’s] support. 
This was done in gallant style, and Hoke found the 
enemy in possession of the trench (which had been occu¬ 
pied by General Archer’s brigade). . . . Hoke attacked 
the enemy vigorously and drove them from the woods 
and trench to the railroad in front, in which there were 
reserves. He followed up his attack and drove the 
enemy from the railroad, which was a strong position, 
some distance, capturing a considerable number of pris¬ 
oners. ’ ’ Colonel Scales says this charge made Colonel 
Hoke a brigadier-general, although it nearly cost him his 
life; for his horse fell from a shell wound and threw his 
rider. The animal, however, immediately rose and 
dashed off, dragging Colonel Hoke, whose foot was 
caught in the stirrup. He was rescued by Colonel Oates’ 
men. Colonel Oates said of the Twenty-first North Caro¬ 
lina: “The Tarheels moved them down in files.” * 

Pender’s brigade, stationed to Lane’s left, was not 
exposed to so severe an ordeal as Lane’s. When the 
skirmishers and sharpshooters in his front became too 
annoying, his Twenty-second regiment, Major Cole, drove 
them away. Colonel McElroy, with the Sixteenth North 
Carolina, was posted in advance of the line near the rail¬ 
road cut to support a battery. While there, and with his 
left entirely unprotected, a brigade of Federals took him 
unawares and captured an officer and fifteen men who 
had been thrown out as flankers. General Law, of Hood’s 
division, saw the danger that the battery and regiment 


* Scales’ address in Fredericksburg. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


137 


were in, and detaching* the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-fourth 
North Carolina, both new regiments never under fire 
before, he advanced with them, and joined by McElroy, 
the three regiments dispersed the enemy. During the 
engagement, a body of the enemy opened fire from the 
woods bordering the run, upon the left of the advancing 
line. “This was checked by a fire from the left of the 
Fifty-seventh and Fifty-fourth, which changed front obli¬ 
quely to the left in order to face the woods. ” General 
Law says in his report: ‘ ‘ The conduct of the Fifty-seventh 
and Fifty-fourth North Carolina regiments was admirable. 
I cannot speak too highly of their steady courage in 
advancing, and the coolness with which they retired to 
the line of railroad when ordered. Colonel Godwin, com¬ 
manding the Fifty-seventh, and Colonel McDowell, com¬ 
manding the Fifty-fourth, ably assisted by Lieut.-Col. 
Hamilton C. Jones, Jr., and Kenneth M. Murchison, 
handled their commands with great skill and coolness.” 
The Regimental History of the Fifty-fourth regiment says 
it was hard to call the Fifty-fourth from its pursuit, and 
that some of the men, after the regiment had handsomely 
repulsed the enemy and followed him for a long distance, 
were distressed because General Hood would not allow 
them “to win some glory.” By special order from corps 
headquarters, a handsome compliment to these two regi¬ 
ments was read at dress parade. 

The effort to break through Jackson’s lines met a bloody 
and disastrous repulse. Birney’s division was sent to 
cover the retreat of Meade and Gibbon, and Franklin’s 
grand division, nearly one-half of Burnside’s army, did 
no more considerable fighting on that field. 

During the ensanguined battle on the Confederate right, 
Sumner’s grand division had been making desperate 
attempts to carry Marye’s hill, the salient point on the 
Confederate left. The heroic defense of the Confederates 
behind the stone wall will live perpetually. At the open¬ 
ing of the attack, this wall was held by the gallant brigade 

Nc 18 


1 


138 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

of the gifted Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb, whose fall on this 
field of battle ended a brave and noble life, and by the 
Twenty-fourth North Carolina regiment, Lieut-Col. J. L. 
Harris. As the attacks grew warmer, Gen. Robert Ran¬ 
som, who was specially charged with the keeping of this 
point, sent in three more North Carolina regiments and a 
part of a fifth. These fought “shoulder to shoulder” with 
Cobb’s men. Ransom’s brigade supported the twenty 
guns that so admirably helped to defend these hills. 

The first Federal attack was made by French’s division, 
followed by Hancock’s division. General Couch, who 
commanded the army corps to which both these divisions 
belonged, says of their charge in the face of “the sheet of 
flame” that came from the stone wall: “As they charged, 
the artillery fire would break their formation and they 
would get mixed; then they would close up, go for¬ 
ward, receive the withering infantry fire, and those who 
were able would run to the houses and fight as best they 
could; and then the next brigade coming up in succession 
would do its duty, and melt like snow coming down on 
warm ground. ”* Before the first assault, General Ransom 
had brought up Cooke’s brigade to the crest of Marye’s 
hill, and during the assault Cooke took the Twenty- 
seventh and Forty-sixth and part of the Fifteenth North 
Carolina into the sunken road. The Forty-eighth North 
Carolina, under Walkup, fought on top of the crest all day. 
General Howard was next ordered by the Federal com¬ 
mander to assail the hill, but was hurled back as his prede¬ 
cessors were. General Ransom now moved the rest of 
his division to the crest, and sent the Twenty-fifth North 
Carolina to the front line; General Kershaw came up 
with some of his regiments, and subsequently some of 
Kemper’s were ordered forward. The men in the rear 
loaded guns, and the ranks interchanged, and in this way 
an almost continuous fire blazed forth from the line of 
the stone wall. 


*Battles and Leaders, III, 113. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


139 


After Howard, attacks were made by Sturgis’ division, 
supported by Getty’s division. Then Griffin made the 
brave endeavor. Humphreys next essayed to carry the 
hill by the bayonet, and desperately did he try, but again 
his men ‘ ''melted as snow. ’ ’ Dead men were lying in such 
piles in some places that the living could hardly get by, 
and yet the rash endeavor was kept up. So clearly did 
those Federals who had stubbornly battled against the 
position recognize that it was useless to continue such 
assaults, that General Humphreys says they tried by 
force to prevent his men from making the attempt. In, 
it seems, sheer desperation, the Federal commander 
ordered gallant men to die before the fire from that hill, 
and silently * and sternly the men tried to carry out orders, 
and left their bodies to freeze on the winter night that 
followed their hopeless and crushed endeavors. General 
Palfrey, the Union general and historian, thus concludes 
his account of this battle: “The short winter’s day came 
to an end. Fifteen thousand men lay dead or wounded 
along the banks of the Rappahannock, and the army of 
the Potomac was no nearer Richmond than it was when 
the sun arose. The Confederates were elated, and the 
Federals were depressed. The Confederates had had a 
day of such savage pleasure as seldom falls to the lot of 
soldiers, a day on which they saw their opponents doing 
just what they wished them to do, but what they did not 
dare to hope they would do. The Federals had had a 
day of hard and hopeless effort, and they had nothing to 
cheer them but the consciousness of duty nobly done. ’ ’ 
According to Longstreet’s recent figures, the Federals 
had, not “present for duty,’’ but actually available for 
duty, ii6,683, and used in the battle about 50,000. The Con¬ 
federates had available 78,000, and engaged less than 
20,000. The total Federal losses were 12,653; the total 
Confederate losses were: killed, 595; wounded, 4,074; 


* General Couch says there was no cheering on the part of the men. 



140 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


missing, 653. North Carolina losses were: killed, 173; 
wounded, 1,294. It will thus be seen that just a little 
less than a third of the killed and the wounded were 
from North Carolina. General Cooke was among the 
wounded. 

During the interval between the battle of Seven Pines 
and the battle of Fredericksburg, there were not many 
important military events in North Carolina. The duty 
of organizing new regiments still went on. The Fifty- 
sixth, Col. P. F. Faison; the Fifty-seventh, Col. A. C. 
Godwin; the Fifty-eighth, Col. J. B. Palmer; the Fifty- 
ninth (cavalry), Col. D. D. Ferrebee; the Sixteenth, Col. 
W. M. Hardy; the Sixty-first, Col. J. D. Radcliffe; the 
Sixty-second, Col. R. G. A. Love; the Sixty-third (cav¬ 
alry), Col. J. H. McNeil; and the Sixty-fourth, Col. 
L. M. Allen, were all organized during this time. 

Major Gordon, in his article on the “Organization of 
the North Carolina Troops,’’states: “When the legisla¬ 
ture, in 1861, directed General Martin to furnish clothing 
for the North Carolina troops, there were then only about 
thirty regiments in service. In less than a year that 
number was more than doubled, and it became very plain 
to General Martin that the resources of the State were 
not adequate to the demands of the army. In August, 
1862, he laid the matter before Governor Clark, and asked 
permission to buy supplies abroad, also a ship to transport 
them. The governor’s term of service being near an end, 
he declined to give any order, and requested that the mat¬ 
ter lie over till Governor Vance was inaugurated. Soon 
after Governor Vance’s inauguration, General Martin 
brought the matter to his attention. The governor took 
it under advisement for a few days. Soon his attention 
was called to the subject again, and he requested General 
Martin to come to the executive office that night and 
meet two or three prominent men, when the matter would 
be discussed on both sides.’’ Then, after stating how 
some prominent men opposed the scheme and declared 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


141 


that the governor and adjutant-general would make them¬ 
selves liable to impeachment if they followed out the plan, 
and how General Martin contended for its adoption, 
Major Gordon proceeds: “The governor reserved his 
decision that night, but when asked for it next day, he 
authorized General Martin to buy the ship and clothing 
for the troops, and signed sufficient bonds for this purpose. 
The next thing for the adjutant-general to do was to get 
a man of ability and responsibility to be sent as agent to 
England. The governor made no suggestion on this 
point. On the recommendation of Major Hogg, Mr. 
(John) White, of Warrenton, was selected as State agent 
to go abroad to purchase the ship and supplies, and Col. 
Tom Crossan was sent to command the ship, and well did 
they perform this and every other duty intrusted to them 
by the State. In due time the steamer Lord Clyde, after¬ 
ward named the Advance, arrived safely in Wilmington 
with supplies for the troops. Governor Vance got a great 
deal of credit forth is; General Martin, who was the real 
author of it, practically none. From this time forward 
it is certain that the North Carolina troops were better 
clothed than those of any other State.” 

In July of this year (1862), Lieut. A. B. Andrews, com¬ 
manding 41 men of the First North Carolina cavalry, 
attacked three gunboats at Rainbow banks, near Wil- 
liamston. His men fired upon the boats from the 
banks until the shells from the boats made it impossible to 
continue the firing. Colonel Baker says: “This was one 
of the boldest and most successful attacks on gunboats 
that I know of during the war.” 

On September 6th a small expedition, under the com¬ 
mand of Col. S. D. Pool, arranged for an attack on the 
Federal garrison at Washington, N. C. This town was held 
by a force under Colonel Potter, of the First North Caro¬ 
lina Union cavalry. Colonel Pool’s force consisted of two 
companies from the Seventeenth regiment, two from the 
Fifty-fifth under Capt. P. M. Mull, 50 men under Captain 


142 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


MacRae from the Eighth, and 70 men of the Tenth artil¬ 
lery acting as infantry and commanded by Captain Man- 
ney. This force dashed into Washington in the early 
morning, surprised the garrison, and after a hot fight 
withdrew, taking several captured guns. The gunboat 
Picket, stationed there, was blown up just as her men 
were called to quarters to fire on the Confederates, and 
nineteen of her men were killed and wounded. The 
Confederates inflicted in this action a loss of 44, and 
suffered a loss of 13 killed and 57 wounded. 

On the 2d of October, General Peck sent Colonel Spear, 
with 1,700 men and some artillery, to Franklin, Va., on 
the Blackwater, to attack the Confederates at that point, 
and if possible to destroy a floating bridge there. The 
place was defended by Col. J. K. Marshall, of the Fifty- 
second North Carolina. Spear reached the river on the 
3d, and a lively skirmish took place across the river. In 
spite of the fact that General Peck reported his force as 
having inflicted a loss of from 75 to 200, the Confederate 
casualties were 2 wounded. 

General Foster with 5,oco men left Washington, N. C., 
for Williamston, on the 2d of November. At Little creek 
and at Rawls’ mill, spirited resistance to his advance was 
offered by the Confederates, and Foster lost 6 killed and 
8 wounded. The Confederates, however, were not in 
force enough to do more than retard Foster’s movements. 

Captain Newkirk, of the cavalry, and Captain Adams, 
commanding a section of artillery, attacked and destroyed 
the gunboat Ellis on the New river. According to Gen¬ 
eral Whiting’s report, this affair was very creditable to 
the officers and men engaged. 

On December 10th, Lieut.-Col. John C. Lamb, with 
some companies from the Seventeenth regiment, a squad¬ 
ron of cavalry under Colonel Evans, and Moore’s bat¬ 
tery, captured for a time the town of Plymouth, N. C. 
Colonel Galloway gives the following account of the 
adventure: “The plan was to capture the pickets and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


143 


take the place by surprise. We reached the picket station 
just before day, captured all but one, who escaped, firing 
his musket as he ran. This gave notice of our approach, 
and when we reached Plymouth, a body of Federals were 
seen formed across the main street ready to receive us. 
The cavalry was ordered to charge these men, which was 
done in good style and with a full allowance of the ‘rebel 
yell.’ The enemy fired one volley and broke in all 
directions. Some escaped to the gunboats in skiffs, some 
hid, some took to the houses and fired from the windows. 
Quite a lively cannonade ensued between the gunboats 
and our battery. ’ ’ Captain Galloway and three privates 
were wounded. 

Two days before the battle of Fredericksburg, General 
Foster left New Bern, N. C., with a force of 10,000 in¬ 
fantry, 6 batteries, having in all 40 pieces of artillery, 
and 640 cavalry. * On the 13th, Foster had reached South¬ 
west creek, not far from Kinston. The Confederates had 
destroyed the bridge, and Colonel Radcliffe’s Sixty-first 
North Carolina regiment was posted on the west side to 
delay Foster’s advance. The Ninth New Jersey and 
Wessell’s brigade crossed over the creek, and after an 
engagement of about an hour, Gen. N. G. Evans, com¬ 
manding the Confederates, was obliged to withdraw. He 
took position on the Neuse river, about two miles from 
Kinston bridge. General Evans had, to oppose Foster’s 
10,000 men, the Seventh, Twenty-second, Twenty-third 
and Holcombe legion, all South Carolina volunteers; in 
addition, he had the Sixty-first North Carolina regiment, 
Mallett’s North Carolina battalion, and Boyce’s South 
Carolina, and Starr’s and Bunting’s North Carolina bat¬ 
teries—in all 2,014 men. 

While Evans was moving from the creek to the river, a 
fleet of small gunboats that had come up from New Bern 
to attack the works at Kinston, under Commander Mur¬ 
ray, endeavored to get in reach of the works. Owing to 


* Rebellion Records, XVIII, 54 . 



144 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


low water, only one of the boats, the Allison, came 
into action, and Col. S. D. Pool’s battalion of heavy artil¬ 
lery soon drove it back. 

On the 14th, General Evans, with his South Carolina bri¬ 
gade on the left and the North Carolinians under Radcliffe 
on the right, awaited Foster’s attack. Foster sent in Wes- 
sell’s brigade and batteries, supporting Wessell’s by 
Amory’s brigade and then by Stevenson’s brigade. The 
odds were, of course, too great for Evans, and after two 
and a half hours of stubborn contention he was forced 
back across the bridge, and followed so closely that at the 
crossing 400 of his men were captured. Evans reformed 
his broken lines, and was joined by the Forty-seventh 
North Carolina regiment, which had just arrived, under 
Col. S. H. Rogers. 

General Foster sent a demand for the surrender of the 
Confederates; but, of course, Evans promptly declined 
compliance. General Evans retreated to Falling creek. 
General Foster did not pursue, but recrossed the river and 
continued toward Goldsboro. On arriving at White Hall, 
eighteen miles from Goldsboro, General Foster found the 
bridge burned and Gen. B. H. Robertson, of General 
Evans’ command, posted on the opposite bank of the river 
ready for battle. General Robertson, having under 
his command the Eleventh North Carolina, Colonel Lev- 
enthorpe; the Thirty-first, Colonel Jordan; 600 dis¬ 
mounted cavalrymen from Ferrebee’s and Evans’ regi¬ 
ments; and a section of Moore’s battery, under Lieut. N. 
McClees, had been sent to burn the bridge and dispute 
Foster’s crossing should he attempt to rebuild the bridge. 
General Foster sent forward the Ninth New Jersey regi¬ 
ment, followed by Amory’s brigade, and eight batteries 
took position on the river bank. A heavy artillery and 
infantry fire commenced at 9:30 on the 16th. General 
Robertson says in his report: “Owing to a range of hills 
on the White Hall side, the enemy had the advantage of 
position. The point occupied by his troops being narrow, 



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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


145 


not more than one regiment at a time could engage him. 

I therefore held Leventhorpe, Ferrebee and Evans in re¬ 
serve, leaving the artillery [two pieces], Thirty-first regi¬ 
ment, and two picked companies in front The cannonad¬ 
ing from the enemy’s batteries became so terrific that the 
Thirty-first regiment withdrew from their position with¬ 
out instructions, but in good order. I immediately or¬ 
dered Colonel Leventhorpe forward. The alacrity with 
which the order was obeyed by his men gave ample proof 
of their gallant bearing, which they so nobly sustained 
during the entire fight, which raged with intensity. . . . 
The conduct of this regiment reflects the greatest credit 
upon its accomplished and dauntless commander. ’ ’ 

The two guns of McClees were no match for the many 
batteries across the Neuse, but he served them with cool¬ 
ness and gallantry. Captain Taylor, of Foster’s signal 
service, reported that the fire from the Eleventh was 
“one of the severest musketry fires I have ever seen.’’ * 
Col. W. J. Martin, historian of the Eleventh regiment, 
says of the conduct of his regiment: “Posted along the 
river bank, from which another regiment had just been 
driven back, it was pounded for several hours at short 
range by a terrific storm of grape and canister, as well as 
musketry; but it never flinched, and gained a reputation 
for endurance and courage which it proudly maintained 
to the fateful end.’’ The Eleventh regiment that thus 
distinguished itself was the first regiment organized in 
North Carolina, and while known as the First North 
Carolina had fought the battle at Bethel. General Rob¬ 
ertson reported his loss at io killed, 42 wounded. The 
Federal loss was 8 killed and 73 wounded. 

After this brush with Robertson, Foster moved on 
toward Goldsboro, his main object being to burn the rail-^ 
road bridge there. At and near the bridge were stationed 
General Clingman, with the Eighth, Fifty-first and Fifty- 
second North Carolina regiments, under Cols. H. M. 

* Rebellion Records, XVIII, 62 . 

No 19 



146 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Shaw, W. A. Allen and J. K. Marshall; Companies B, 
G and H, Tenth artillery, acting as infantry, and Company 

F. Fortieth artillery, acting as infantry, under Lieut.-Col. 
S. D. Pool; and Starr’s battery. Other troops were in 
the vicinity, but for reasons not now apparent, were not 
moved to the bridge in time to assist the men engaged. 
The Sixty-first regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Devane, 
arrived on the field during the engagement and reported 
to its brigadier, General Clingman, in time to take part 
in the afternoon action. 

When General Foster reached a point near Goldsboro, 
he ordered five regiments to move down the railroad track 
and burn the bridge. A regiment was sent with them to 
protect the flank. General Wessell’s brigade was ad¬ 
vanced, to be in supporting distance of the advance. The 
Federal regiments and artillery attacked promptly. All 
the Federal artillery seems, according to Foster’s report, 
to have been engaged at the bridge. The attack fell 
principally on the Fifty-first and Fifty-second regiments 
on the southwest side of the bridge, and on Pool’s four 
companies on the north side of the bridge. Starr’s two 
pieces opened. The two regiments were unable to hold 
their own, broke, were reformed again by General Cling¬ 
man, and then driven back to the county bridge. As 
these regiments were in retreat, Lieut. George A. 
Graham, of the Twenty-third New York battery, dashed 
gallantly forward, and in spite of the efforts of Pool’s men 
to reach him with their rifles, set fire to the bridge. Gen. 

G. W. Smith reported that as Clingman’s regiments fell 
back, Gen. N. G. Evans arrived on the field with his 
South Carolina brigade, and assumed command. By 
his direction, the Fifty-first and Fifty-third, supported 
by Evans’ Holcombe legion, made a charge against 

H. C. Lee’s brigade, of which that officer said: “A por¬ 
tion of the enemy instantly, with loud cheers, 
charged up the hill toward the battery, and bore 
up steadily in the face of a well-directed and most 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 147 

destructive fire. . . . The enemy, meanwhile, had been 
staggered by the crushing fire of the batteries, and at 
sight of my supporting regiments, broke and fled in dis¬ 
order to the woods. His retreat was covered by a heavy 
fire from the battery on his right, which inflicted on my 
command a loss of 3 killed and 19 wounded.” 

This “battery,” as Colonel Lee calls it, was one gun of 
Lieut. T. C. Fuller’s section of Starr’s; the other gun 
was overturned. Lieutenant Fuller acted with great 
coolness, and showed a soldier’s aptitude for finding and 
striking his enemy. General Clingman said of the deter¬ 
mined manner in which Fuller fought his solitary gun: 
“Lieutenant Fuller with the greatest gallantry continued 
to reply until darkness put an end to the contest. ’ ’ 
Captain Reinhardt’s company of the Third regiment of 
cavalry is warmly commended in the report of Colonel 
Stevens. 

After the afternoon engagement, General Foster with¬ 
drew his troops and returned to New Berne. The total 
Federal losses during this expedition were 591 killed and 
wounded. * The total Confederate loss, as reported by 
General Smith, was 339. The North Carolina losses, with 
the exception of the Sixty-first regiment, from which there 
is no report, were 40 killed and 177 wounded. 

During the operations mentioned above, North Carolina 
was represented in the Western army by the following 
regiments: Twenty-ninth, Col. R. B. Vance; Thirty- 
ninth, Col. D. Coleman; Fifty-eighth, Col. J. B. Palmer; 
Sixty-second, Col. R. G. A. Love; Sixty-fourth, Col. L. 
M. Allen; Sixty-ninth (Thomas’ legion), Col. W. H. 
Thomas; Fifth cavalry battalion, Maj. A. H. Baird; 
Seventh cavalry battalion, Lieut.-Col. G. N. Folk, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Walker’s cavalry battalion. 

In September the Sixty-ninth regiment (Thomas’ 
legion) was ordered to Powell’s valley. This regiment 
was raised in the mountains of North Carolina and had 


* Rebellion Records, XVIII, p. 60 . 



148 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in it two companies of Cherokee Indians. On this march, 
one of these Indian companies became engaged in a sharp 
little battle with the Federals, and Lieutenant As-too-gah- 
sto-ga, who is described by Major Stringfield of that reg¬ 
iment “as a splendid specimen of Indian manhood,” led 
a charge and was killed. “The Indians,” says Major 
Stringfield, “were furious at his death, and before they 
could be restrained, scalped several of the Federal 
wounded and dead, for which ample apology was made 
at the time. ’ ’ * 

In General Bragg’s battles at Murfreesboro and Stone’s 
river, North Carolina had engaged these regiments: 
Twenty-ninth, Thirty-ninth and Sixtieth. Col. R. B. 
Vance, after the death of Gen. J. E. Rains, commanded 
the Second brigade of Stevenson’s division. At Murfrees¬ 
boro, on the 31st of December, the Twenty-ninth was 
under fire for over five hours, captured one piece of artil¬ 
lery, and engaged in a gallant charge upon a brigade posted 
in a cedar thicket. General McCown, the division com¬ 
mander, said of its colonel: “Colonel Vance bore himself 
gallantly. ’ ’ The Thirty-ninth was temporarily serving 
in Gen. Patton Anderson’s brigade. General Anderson 
thus mentions it in his report: “The adjutant of the 
Thirty-ninth North Carolina, Lieut. I. S. Hyams, reported 
to me on the battlefield that his regiment had become 
detached . . . and was at that time out of ammunition 
and under command of Capt. A. W. Bell, the field officers 
having been killed or wounded. I supplied the needed 
ammunition, and formed the regiment on the right of the 
Twenty-seventh Mississippi. It participated creditably in 
all our subsequent movements until it was detached. ’ ’ 

The Sixtieth regiment, Colonel McDowell, was in both 
these battles. At Murfreesboro, it was at the opening of 
the battle under a heavy fire of artillery, but advanced 
without hesitation until thrown into some confusion by 
the houses and fences; but most of the companies were at 

* Regimental History. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


149 


once rallied, and moved against the enemy posted in the 
cedars. The movement was successful, and the brigade 
remained that night on the field. Colonel McDowell 
makes this report of his regiment in the action at Stone’s 
river on the 2d of January: “On Friday, in the after¬ 
noon, we occupied Stone’s river, and formed line of battle 
in rear of Hanson’s and Pillow’s brigades to support them 
in the advance. About 4 o’clock we were ordered to 
advance, which we did in good order; engaged the enemy, 
and kept driving him before us until sunset, when it 
became apparent that he was strongly reinforced and 
flanking us, and we were ordered to fall back. ’ ’ The 
North Carolina losses in these battles were 10 killed, 144 
wounded. 


CHAPTER IX. 


NORTH CAROLINA IN THE BEGINNING OF 1863 —GATH¬ 
ERING FRESH SUPPLIES —DEMONSTRATIONS BY 
D. H. HILL AGAINST NEW BERN—FIGHTS AT DEEP 
GULLY AND SANDY RIDGE—SIEGE OF WASHING¬ 
TON, N. C.—BLOUNT’S MILLS AND GUM SWAMP. 

A T the opening of this year, the troops of North Caro¬ 
lina were disposed, so far as the records show, as 
follows: Thirty-two regiments and one battalion 
of infantry, two regiments of cavalry and three batteries 
were with General Lee; under Gen. Kirby Smith, the 
Fifty-eighth, Colonel Palmer, the Sixty-fourth, Colonel 
Allen, and Fifth cavalry battalion, Capt. S. W. English, 
were stationed at Big Creek gap, Tenn.; the Sixty- 
second regiment, Colonel Love, was guarding bridges 
near Knoxville; the Seventh cavalry battalion was in 
Carter county, Tenn.; Walker’s cavalry battalion was 
in Monroe county, Tenn.; the Twenty-ninth, Colonel 
Vance, and the Thirty-ninth, Colonel Coleman, were in 
Bragg’s army. In the State, General Whiting was in 
charge of the defenses of Wilmington, with 9,913 officers 
and men. Gen. S. D. French, in charge of the department 
of North Carolina, had his forces stationed as follows: 
General Pettigrew’s brigade at Magnolia; Gen. N. G. 
Evans’ South Carolina brigade at Kinston; General 
Daniel’s brigade, General Davis’ brigade, Maj. J. C. Hask¬ 
ell’s four batteries, Colonel Bradford’s four artillery com¬ 
panies, and Capt. J. B. Starr’s light battery at Goldsboro; 
the Forty-second regiment, Col. George C. Gibbs, and 
Captain Dabney’s heavy battery at Weldon; the Seven¬ 
teenth regiment, Col. W. F. Martin, at Hamilton; Gen. 
B. H. Robertson and three regiments of cavalry at Kins- 


150 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


151 


ton; Thomas’ legion in the mountains. The field returns 
for January show that the forces scattered over the 
State aggregated 31,442 men.* This large number of 
soldiers was collected in the State because it was thought 
another strong expedition was about to descend upon 
Wilmington, or some point on the coast. Upon the open¬ 
ing of the spring campaign, these troops were sent in all 
directions. 

After General Foster’s return to New Bern from Golds¬ 
boro, his force around New Bern showed little activity. 
Some expeditions were occasionally sent out, resulting in 
skirmishes or minor engagements. At Sandy Ridge, on 
the 13th of February, the Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania in¬ 
fantry had a skirmish with a detachment from the Eighth 
North Carolina regiment, in which 4 North Carolinians 
were wounded. An expedition under Capt. Colin Rich¬ 
ardson, of the Third New York cavalry, engaged some 
militia near Swan Quarter and Fairfield on the 4th of 
May. In these two skirmishes the Federals lost 18 men. 

During this spring, enormous supplies of meal and meat 
for the maintenance of the Confederate armies were 
drawn from North Carolina, and military operations in 
Virginia and North Carolina were made to so shape 
themselves as to facilitate the collection of these sup¬ 
plies. Shortly after General Longstreet was assigned to 
command the department of Virginia and North Caro¬ 
lina, he learned “that there was a goodly^ supply of pro¬ 
duce along the east coast of Virginia and North Carolina, 
inside the military lines of the Federal forces. To col¬ 
lect and transmit this to accessible points for the Con¬ 
federates, it was necessary to advance our divisions so as 
to cover the country, and to hold the Federal forces in and 
about their fortified positions while our trains were at 
work. To that end I moved with the troops in Virginia 
across the Blackwater to close lines about the forts around 
Suffolk, and ordered the troops along our line in North 


* Rebellion Records, XVIII, 865 . 



152 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Carolina to a like advance. ” * In a letter to General Lee, 
General Longstreet stated to him his plans: “In arraying 
our forces to protect supply trains in the eastern coun¬ 
ties of North Carolina, we had hoped to make a diversion 
upon New Bern and surprise the garrison at Washing¬ 
ton. The high waters have washed away the bridges and 
detained us a week, and it is probable the enemy has 
discovered our movements. ”f 

So, in pursuance of this policy, while the Confederate 
wagon trains were moving busily among the rich corn 
counties east of the Chowan, Gen. D. H. Hill, who had 
been assigned to command the troops in North Carolina 
when it was thought that another great expedition was 
about to invade the State, organized a demonstration 
against New Bern, and, to still further confine the Fed- 
erals, shortly afterward laid siege to Washington. These 
were the two towns containing large Federal garrisons. 
At the same time, General Longstreet made a similar 
movement against Suffolk. Gen. Junius Daniel’s North 
Carolina brigade, made up of these regiments: Thirty- 
second, Colonel Brabble; Forty-third, Colonel Kenan; 
Forty-fifth, Lieut.-Col. S. H. Boyd; Fifty-third, Colonel 
Owens, and Second battalion, Lieut. -Col. H. L. Andrews, 
moved toward New Bern by the lower Trent road; the 
cavalry under General Robertson was sent by the upper 
Trent road, and General Pettigrew’s brigade, with fif¬ 
teen guns under Major Haskell, was ordered to approach 
the city near Barrington’s Ferry, to bombard the gun¬ 
boats and Fort Anderson. General Pettigrew’s brigade 
consisted of the following North Carolina regiments: 
Eleventh, Colonel Leventhorpe; Twenty-sixth, Colonel 
Burgwyn; Forty-fourth, Colonel Singeltary; Forty-sev¬ 
enth, Colonel Faribault, and Fifty-second, Colonel 
Marshall. 

At Deep Gully, a few miles out from New Bern, 


* From Manassas to Appomattox, p. 324. 
f Rebellion Records, XVIII, 951. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


153 


General Daniel found five companies and two field pieces 
in strong position. With four companies, he at once 
attacked and routed the Federals. This initiatory 
success could not, however, be followed up, as General 
Pettigrew, after every exertion, found it impossible to 
carry out his orders. He was expected to take Fort 
Anderson, to advance his guns to that point, a com¬ 
manding one, and then to drive away the gunboats 
on the river, and if possible, shell the garrison. 
General Pettigrew, however, found his artillery and 
ammunition so worthless and unsuited to the work in 
hand, that he made no progress in his attack. He had 
only four guns of range enough to reach the boats. 
These were 20-pound Parrotts of Confederate manu¬ 
facture. Of these, one burst, killing or wounding several 
of the gunners, another broke down, and the shells from 
the others “burst just outside the guns.”* So rather 
than sacrifice his men by storming the work with infan¬ 
try alone, General Pettigrew wisely decided to withdraw. 
The Twenty-sixth regiment had been under orders since 
daylight to assault Fort Anderson, when the artillery open¬ 
ed, and its youthful and gallant Col. H. K. Burgwyn and 
his men withdrew with great reluctance after having been 
under a heavy artillery fire for some hours. The Confed¬ 
erate losses in this demonstration were, so far as reported, 
4 killed and 19 wounded. 

Between this movement against New Bern and the 
siege of Washington, only one or two skirmishes took 
place. A few men from the Seventeenth regiment made 
a demonstration against Plymouth. Col. John E. Brown, 
with three companies of the Forty-second regiment, at¬ 
tacked the post at Winfield, on the Chowan river, below 
Gatesville; after a brisk exchange of shots, he withdrew. 

At Sandy Ridge, three companies of the Forty-ninth and 
some of the Eighth regiment had a short skirmish on the 
20th, and lost 1 killed and 6 wounded. 

* Pettigrew’s Report. 

Nc 20 



154 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Toward the last of March, General Hill sent General 
Garnett to lay siege to Washington. It had been hoped, 
as already seen, to surprise the town, but the rains de¬ 
layed and exposed the movement. General Lee advised 
against an assault on the town on account of the loss it 
might entail.* In a letter to General Beauregard, then 
at Charleston and expecting to be reinforced from North 
Carolina, General Hill describes the objects of his attack 
on Washington: “For the last four weeks I have been 
around Washington and New Bern with three objects in 
view—to harass the Yankees, to get our supplies from the 
low country, and to make a diversion in your favon . . . 
Washington was closely besieged for sixteen days, but 
they succeeded in getting two supply boats into town, 
furnishing about twenty days’ rations to the garrison 0 I 
then withdrew. ”f This was done in accordance with his 
instructions from General Longstreet. Longstreet 
states these instructions as follows: “General Hill is 
ordered and urged to be prompt in his operations. If he 
finds that too much time will be consumed in reducing the 
garrison at any point, he is to draw off as soon as he gets 
out the supplies from the eastern counties. ’ ’ J 

The reason for these instructions was, that now as the 
spring was fairly opening there were loud calls for the 
troops operating in North Carolina. General Lee was 
trying to reinforce for his spring campaign. General 
Beauregard was asking for aid at Charleston, and the Rich¬ 
mond authorities were anxious to strengthen the Western 
armies. Hence the campaign in North Carolina was 
again reduced to defensive issues, and the troops moved 
to bigger fields. 

During the siege at Washington there was some spir¬ 
ited fighting around the town, and General Pettigrew at 
Blount’s mills repulsed, after a sharp attack, a column 

* Letter to Longstreet.—Rebellion Records, XVIII, o66, 

\ Rebellion Records, XVIII, 1007. 

X Rebellion Records, XVIII, 959. 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


155 


under General Spinola as it was marching to the relief of 
Washington. 

On the 22d of May, Lee’s Federal brigade, one regi¬ 
ment of Pennsylvania troops, seven pieces of artillery, 
and three companies of cavalry, surprised the Fifty-sixth 
and Twenty-fifth North Carolina regiments at Gum 
Swamp, below Kinston. These regiments were broken 
and scattered, and lost 165 prisoners; but rallied and sup¬ 
ported by some companies of the Forty-ninth regiment, 
the Twenty-seventh regiment and other troops, attacked 
the Federals and drove them back to New Bern, killing 
their commander, Col. J. R. Jones. 


\ 


CHAPTER X. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE — BRANDY STATION — WINCHES¬ 
TER — BERRYVILLE — JORDAN SPRINGS — MIDDLE- 
BURG—UPPERVILLE—FAIRFAX. 

A FTER the battle at Fredericksburg, General Lee’s 
army went into winter quarters along the south 
side of the Rappahannock, and the Federal army 
made itself comfortable on the north side of the same 
river. It was a rigorous winter, and many of the Confed¬ 
erates suffered severely from lack of proper uniforms and 
shoes, and from want of proper food. In April, General 
Hooker, who had succeeded Burnside in command of 
the Federal army, began a demonstration against the 
Confederate front and right, and under cover of this 
movement, marched the Eleventh, Twelfth and Fifth 
corps up the Rappahannock, crossed at Kelly’s ford, and 
concentrated at Chancellorsville on Thursday afternoon, 
the 30th of April. The Second corps crossed at United 
States ford, and the Third was ordered to follow by the 
same route. Four corps were thus massed on Lee’s left 
flank, and a fifth was nearly in position, with “scarcely 
a man lost. ’ ’ The initial success was certainly with 
Hooker, and a continuation of this vigorous offensive 
would have “desperately compromised’’ the army of 
Northern Virginia. But Hooker’s energy seemed to 
expend itself in the movement. “Lee had not been,’’ 
says Dodge, “unaware of what the Federals had been 
doing, but he had been largely misled by the feint below 
the town, and had so little anticipated Hooker’s movement 
by the right, that less than 3,000 of his cavalry were on 
hand to observe the crossing of the Rappahannock and 
the Rapidan. Stuart had not until Thursday fully gauged 


156 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 157 

the importance of this movement, and only on Thursday 
night had Lee ascertained the facts, and been able to 
mature his plans for parrying Hooker’s thrust.” * 

On the night of the 29th, R. H. Anderson’s division was 
directed to proceed toward Chancellorsville and cover the 
important roads leading to the Confederate rear. When 
Anderson arrived at Chancellorsville about midnight, he 
found two of his divisions—Mahone’s and Posey’s—al¬ 
ready there. These two brigades had been stationed at 
Bark Hill ford (or United States ford). As the crossing 
of the enemy flanked their position, they retired with a 
view to check his advance on the Confederate flank, f 
General Anderson took position at the intersection of the 
mine and plank roads, near Tabernacle church, and began 
to intrench himself. As Anderson withdrew from Chan¬ 
cellorsville to take this position, his rear guard was 
attacked by Federal cavalry, but this was soon driven off 
by Mahone’s brigade. Up to this point no North Carolina 
troops were on the field. By this time, General Lee was 
satisfied that Hooker’s objective point was his flank; so 
leaving Early’s division, Barksdale’s brigade and part of 
the reserve artillery under Pendleton, to guard his lines 
at Fredericksburg, he ordered McLaws to move toward 
Anderson’s position at midnight on the 30th, and Jackson 
to move at dawn. General Jackson reached Anderson’s 
“hasty works” at 8 o’clock, and at once prepared to ad¬ 
vance the whole Confederate force. Gen. R. F. Hoke’s 
North Carolina brigade of four regiments and one battal¬ 
ion remained with Early. With Jackson there moved 
four North Carolina brigades and two regiments. Two 
of these brigades,' Lane’s and Pender’s, were in A. P. 
Hill’s division, commanded by General Rodes; the First 
and Third regiments were in Colston’s division. 

Hooker’s plan was to uncover Banks’ ford so as to get 
in easy communication with his troops left at Fredericks- 


* Dodge: Lowell Institute Speech, 
f Mahone’s Report. 



158 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


burg, and advance to the open ground beyond Chancellors- 
ville. He had already lost a day, and the day was very 
valuable to Lee. His troops moved forward, and Sykes 
and Hancock ran against and engaged McLaws and 
Anderson; and Slocum, commanding the Eleventh and 
Twelfth corps on the plank road, also engaged the Confed¬ 
erates. Sykes for a while drove McLaws back, but 
Anderson and Ramseur’s Carolinians came to his support 
and drove him back of Hancock, who advanced to 
strengthen the fight. Hancock and Slocum then both 
formed line. The position of each of these officers was 
good, being free from the undergrowth of the wilderness, 
and open enough for advantageous use of cavalry and 
artillery. ‘ ‘ Suddenly, ’ ’ says Dodge, ‘ ‘ every one concerned 
was surprised by an order from Hooker to withdraw again 
into the wilderness. Here may be said to have begun 
the certain loss of the campaign. The proceeding was 
absurd. . . . Hooker had come to the end of his mental 
tether. The march had taxed his powers to their limit. ’ ’ * 

When the Federals retired, they were followed by the 
Confederate advance, but no more serious fighting took 
place that day. During the night the Federals in¬ 
trenched themselves, as Hooker had ) in spite of his num¬ 
bers, resolved to fight a defensive battle. “It was evi¬ 
dent,” says General Lee in his report, “that a direct 
attack on the enemy would be attended with great diffi¬ 
culty and loss, in view of the strength of his position and 
his superiority of numbers. ” General Jackson was there¬ 
fore sent with his corps, on the 2d, to assail the Federal 
right, held by General Howard with the Eleventh corps. 
Although Jackson’s men had just seen arduous service, 
they set out with great cheerfulness, and by 5 p. m. had 
reached the Federal right. “To cover Jackson’s march, 
Lee at intervals during the day tapped at the lines in 
his front, principally where Hancock lay.” 

At 6 o’clock, General Jackson advanced. D. H. Hill’s 


* Colonel Dodge: Boston Speech. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


159 


division, under Rodes, held the front line. On the left 
of this division was Iverson with the Fifth, Twelfth, 
Twentieth and Twenty-third North Carolina regiments. 
In reserve just behind Rodes’ right brigade (Colquitt’s), 
was Ramseur, with the Second, Fourth, Fourteenth and 
Thirtieth North Carolina regiments. Trimble’s division 
under Colston composed the second line; in this were the 
First and Third North Carolina regiments. A. P. Hill’s 
formed the third line. Two of his brigades, Lane’s and 
Pender’s, were entirely composed of North Carolinians. 

General Howard, in spite of repeated warnings, had not 
strengthened his position, and when Jackson’s troops 
rushed fiercely upon his command, over half of which was 
composed of Germans, his men were cooking supper and 
amusing themselves. Colonel Dodge, of the Federal army, 
writes: “At 6 p. m. the order was given, and 22,000 of the 
best infantry in existence closed rapidly down upon the 
flank of 10,000 of the least hardened of the troops of the 
army of the Potomac. . . . The fight was short, sharp, 
deadly, but partial only. But the force on the right was 
swept away like a cobweb by Jackson’s mighty besom. 

. . . Never was an army more completely surprised, more 
absolutely overwhelmed. . . . Happily, night was ap¬ 
proaching and Jackson’s troops had to be halted and 
reformed, his three lines having become inextricably 
mixed. ’’ * 

With the exception of some of Schurz’s regiments and 
Buschbeck’s brigade, which made a gallant stand in some 
breastworks from which Doles drove it, there was no 
severe fighting until Berry’s division could be placed in 
position. Then the lines were exposed to much hotter 
fire. However, the North Carolinians, as well as their 
comrades, had, although their success was marvelous, 
no such arduous battling as came on the next day. 
Col. H. A. Brown, in his Regimental History, says: 
“We captured piles of fat knapsacks and piles of fatter 


* Boston Speech. 



160 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Dutchmen. Private Faw, of Company B, remarked that 
the thick woods that we were passing through were like 
a strainer, letting the lean and lesser Dutchmen through, 
and holding the fat ones.” Colonel Parker, of the Thir¬ 
tieth, says that “upon the attack, many of these surprised 
Germans broke to the rear, shouting in terror the ominous 
word, ‘Shackson! Shackson!’ ” 

During this rapid advance, the front lines, in the ardor 
of the pursuit and by the entanglement of the wilderness, 
became so mixed that it was necessary to halt for adjust¬ 
ment, and A. P. Hill’s line was ordered forward to relieve 
the two front lines. It was during this change in his lines 
that General Jackson, one of the pillars of Lee’s success, 
was wounded by the relieving line. These troops, hav¬ 
ing just come into position, did not know that he was 
reconnoitering in front. When Hill’s regiments reached 
the front, line of battle was formed. Lane’s brigade was 
in advance. His Thirty-third regiment was deployed in 
front as skirmishers; the Seventh and Thirty-seventh 
were on the right of the road, the Eighteenth and Twenty- 
eighth on the left. Jackson meant to push his attack 
immediately on with these fresh lines, but his fall and 
the wounding of General Hill stopped the further 
attack. During the night, when Sickles was pushing his 
way back to his friends, the Eighteenth, Twenty-eighth 
and portions of the Thirty-third North Carolina regi¬ 
ment distinguished themselves by effective work against 
him, and won General Heth’s hearty praise. During 
Jackson’s triumphant progress, Anderson hotly attacked 
the Federal front, but there were no North Carolina 
troops on his part of the field. 

Before the renewal of combat, Sunday, May 3d, each of 
the contestants formed new battle order. Hooker drew 
Sickles back from Hazel Grove in the morning, and posted 
the whole of Sickles’ corps and Williams’ division of the 
Twelfth corps in works on a crest to the right of Fair- 
view, and at right angles to the plank road. Fairview 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


161 


was covered with artillery from the Third, Twelfth and 
Eleventh corps. French of Conch’s division was on the 
right of Sickles, and Humphreys of Meade’s corps was 
near by. This new line was at right angles to Geary and 
Hancock, who were still in front of Anderson and McLaws. 

Stuart formed his lines with A. P. Hill’s division in 
front. Pender and Thomas were on the left of the plank 
road, Pender’s right resting on the road; Lane, McGowan 
and Archer were on the right of the road and in the order 
named from the left. Lane’s left was on the road. Trim¬ 
ble’s division, under Colston, composed the second line, 
and Rodes the third. To aid the infantry attacks, thirty 
pieces of artillery were placed on the eminence at Hazel 
Grove, abandoned by Hooker’s order. The whole line 
moved forward shortly after daylight, with “Remember 
Jackson’’ as a watchword. The breastworks, where the 
night attack stopped, were carried after desperate effort. 
The troops on the left of the plank road carried the next 
line, and then the Federals took refuge in their third, and 
strongly intrenched, line. The Confederates three times 
ran over these works, and three times were they driven 
back. French fell on their left flank, but they brought up 
their reserves and renewed the fiery onslaught. How fierce 
the fighting was may be gauged by the fact that 9,000 
Federals fell here.* Dodge comments: “No praise is too 
high for the staunchness of the attack or the stubbornness 
of the defense . 9 ’ Finally the Confederate left and right 
joined and drove the Federals from their lines. 

This general sketch of the battle has been necessary for 
a proper understanding of the service of the North Caro¬ 
lina brigades. Pender and Thomas attacked to the left 
of the road. General Heth, commanding the division 
after its senior commander’s wound, says in his report: 
“Generals Pender and Thomas, on the left, found the 
enemy posted behind a breastwork of logs and brush 
immediately in their front, at a distance of 150 yards. 

* Dodge, in Boston Speech. 

No 21 



162 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


The breastworks were charged and carried, the men never 
hesitating for a moment, driving the enemy before them 
until a second line was reached, which was in like manner 
broken. A third line of the enemy was now encountered. 
After a desperate and prolonged fight, without supports 
or a piece of artillery to aid them, but on their part sub¬ 
jected to heavy artillery fire of from ten to twelve pieces, 
these gallant brigades fell back in order to the breast¬ 
works from which the enemy had been driven.” These 
they held for reinforcements, and joined in the fresh 
assault that drove the Federals off the field. General Pen¬ 
der says of his men: “I can truly say my brigade fought, 
May 3d, with unsurpassed courage and determination. ’ ’ 
Pender lost 700 men in a few hours. 

General Heth reports of Lane’s assault: ‘‘Lane’s bri¬ 
gade, supported by the Fortieth and Forty-seventh Vir¬ 
ginia regiments, and McGowan’s brigade, advanced and 
charged the enemy (behind his breastworks) who was sup¬ 
ported by twenty-nine pieces of artillery. I cannot con¬ 
ceive of any body of men ever being subjected to a more 
galling fire than this force. The brigades of Lane, 
McGowan and a portion of Heth’s (Colonel Brockenbrough 
commanding), notwithstanding, drove the enemy from 
his works and held them for some time, but were finally 
compelled to fall back, which was unavoidable from the 
course that affairs had assumed on the right of the line. ’ ’ 
Their flank had been turned. General Lane justly felt 
proud of his men: “I shall always feel proud of the 
noble bearing of my brigade in the battle of Chancellors- 
ville—the bloodiest in which it has ever taken a part— 
where the Thirty-third discharged its duty so well as skir¬ 
mishers, and, with the Eighteenth and Twenty-eighth, 
gallantly repulsed two night attacks made by vastly supe¬ 
rior numbers, and where the Seventh and Thirty-seventh 
vied with each other as to who should first drive the 
vandals from their works.” His losses, 739 killed and 
wounded, show hard struggling. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


163 


Iverson’s brigade went into action on the left of the 
Confederate line and to the left of the plank road; Rodes’ 
brigade was on Iverson’s right. Both of these were sup¬ 
porting brigades and in the third line. The Fifth regi¬ 
ment, the left regiment, became entangled in the dense 
undergrowth and had to be moved to the right to get for¬ 
ward. This left the Twelfth on the flank. Lieut.-Col. 
R. D. Johnston, of the Twenty-third, was that day in com¬ 
mand of the Twelfth and he deployed skirmishers on the 
flank and the brigade moved on the enemy. Iverson 
reached the front line as it was falling back from its 
assault on the third Federal position. General Double¬ 
day, of the Union army, says: “Then another front 
attack was organized by the enemy, and Nicholls’, Iver¬ 
son’s and O’Neal’s brigades charged over everything, 
even up to Best’s batteries at Fairview.’’ * This attack, 
however, divided itself into two parts. A portion of 
Iverson’s brigade and a portion of Pender’s and two reg¬ 
iments of O’Neal’s, under the personal leadership of Pen¬ 
der, assailed the part of the enemy’s battery and line rest¬ 
ing on the road. General Rodes said of this movement: 
“The enemy was compelled to fall back, and pressing 
on, Colonel Hall’s two regiments (Fifth and Twenty-sixth 
Alabama), together with the Twenty-third North Caro¬ 
lina, Colonel Christie, carried the heights in magnificent 
style, planting their flags inside the works. ’ ’ f The rest of 
Rodes’, Iverson’s and Pender’s troops were repulsed, and 
this exposing the three regiments Pender had in advance, 
they, too, fell back. At this juncture the flank attack of 
French, and later Humphreys, struck the Confederate 
left. Iverson and Thomas hurried some troops there, and 
Colston and Colquitt soon stopped the movement, and the 
general Confederate advance followed. Iverson’s brigade 
loss was 370 men. 

While these North Carolinians and others were striking 

* Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, p. 48 . 

f Official Report. 



164 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


so manfully on the left, Ramseur’s Carolinians and Doles’ 
Georgians were warmly at work on the right. Ramseur, 
as he had been on the front the day before, was on the 
last line at the opening of the battle. As Ramseur went 
in, the Thirtieth North Carolina, Colonel Parker, was 
detached, with discretionary orders to support Pegram’s 
battery. When Ramseur reached the first line of works 
from which the Federals had been driven, he found a 
small part of one of the Confederate divisions so demoral¬ 
ized by the death of some of its officers, as to be tying 
behind the works for protection. Ramseur, after futile 
efforts to induce them to do their duty, marched his men 
over them and over the works, and formed in face of a 
murderous fire. * As soon as he had established his line, 
Ramseur rushed forward without firing a gun and cap¬ 
tured the enemy’s works. General Cox says: “This was 
one of the few times during the war when the opposing 
troops actually crossed bayonets, and where an inferior 
force, in broad daylight, without firing a gun, captured 
breastworks held by superior numbers and drove them out 
at the point of the bayonet. ’ ’ General Ramseur says of 
his regiments: “The Fourth North Carolina, Colonel 
Grimes, and seven companies of the Second, Colonel Cox, 
drove the enemy before them until they had taken the 
last line of his works, which they held under a severe 
direct and enfilading fire, repulsing several assaults on 
this portion of our front. ’ ’ The Fourteenth and three 
companies of the Second could not get as far as the other 
part of the brigade, for they found no troops on their right 
and the enemy was in force on that flank. Ramseur tried 
in vain to get his right protected. Colonel Parker, how¬ 
ever, returning with the Thirtieth regiment to join him, 
saw this flanking force, and always prompt and brave, he 
charged and stayed its progress. Grimes and Cox had 
now to be withdrawn until reinforcements came. But 
for Colonel Bennett’s coolness and Colonel Parker’s 


* General Cox’s Memorial Address. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


165 


charge, Grimes and Cox, after their handsome efforts, 
would doubtlessly have been captured or severely cut up. 

The First and Third North Carolina regiments were in 
Colston’s brigade and division. Colonel Warren was in 
command of Colston’s brigade. This brigade was, 
however, under its fifth commander when Sunday’s 
battle ended. Colonel Warren fell severely wounded, 
as did in turn his successors, Col. T. V. Williams, 
Col. John A. McDowell, and Lieut.-Col. S. D. Thrus- 
ton. Lieut.-Col. H. A. Brown, of the First North 
Carolina, was fortunate enough to be the only unin¬ 
jured commander. This list of wounded officers proves 
that the brigade fought unflinchingly. The Regi¬ 
mental History of the Third regiment gives this account 
of the brigade’s part in the action: “On Sunday, the 3d, 
the regiment was formed on the right of the road, and 
advancing, captured the first line of the enemy’s works— 
a barricade of huge logs with abatis in front. The por¬ 
tion of these works that crossed a ravine and swamp, and 
which was favorable to the occupancy of the enemy, was 
assaulted three times by the Confederates before it was 
finally held. This regiment (also the brigade) partici¬ 
pated in the last two of these charges. It was then that 
Gen. J. E. B. Stuart ordered the whole line forward. 
The enemy’s earthworks were carried by storm, and many 
pieces of artillery which had occupied them were captured. 
We were now in full view of the Chancellor house. . . . 
Soon the Chancellor house was on fire and a glorious vic¬ 
tory perched on our banners. 

The Federals retreated toward the Rappahannock by 
10 a. m., and General Lee halted his men to rest and 
reform. It was his intention to follow Hooker for a 
new attack when word from Fredericksburg made other 
action necessary. General Sedgwick’s corps had crossed 
the Potomac, captured the heights intrusted to Early, and 
was moving in Lee’s rear to help the sorely beset Hooker. 
General Lee sent first McLaws and then Anderson to 


166 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


meet and check this advance. No force except Jackson’s 
corps was left in front of Hooker’s vast army. “Here, 
then,” is Colonel Dodge’s caustic comment upon his com¬ 
mander’s allowing Lee to do this with impunity, “we 
have the spectacle, happily rare in war, of a slender force 
of 20,000 men, who had been continuously marching and 
fighting for four days, penning in their defenses an army 
of over 60,000, while its commander cries for aid to a lieu¬ 
tenant who is miles away and beset by a larger force than 
he himself commands. And this slack-sinewed com¬ 
mander is the very same who initiated the campaign with 
the watchword: ‘Fight! Fight!! Fight!!!’ and with the 
motto: ‘Celerity, audacity and resolution are everything 
in war. ’ ’ ’ 

McLaws took position at Salem church. Brooks and 
Newton, of Sedgwick’s corps, lost 1,500 men in an at¬ 
tempt to move him, but failed. General Lee then ordered 
the rest of Anderson’s division to reinforce McLaws, and 
directed these forces and Early’s command to strike Sedg¬ 
wick. This was done, and though a loss of 2,000 men 
was inflicted, Sedgwick after holding his ground until 
night crossed the river, and Lee’s flank was clear. Sedg¬ 
wick’s corps sustained a loss of 4,590 in these engage¬ 
ments.* In this last battle, Hoke’s brigade was most 
actively engaged in the charge against Howe. The main 
assault was made upon Howe’s left by the brigades of 
Hoke and Hays. These two brigades, although attacking 
with “an easy contempt of danger,” were repulsed until 
Gordon’s brigade found opportunity to move down a 
ravine and take Howe in flank. This compelled Howe’s 
hasty withdrawal. General Hoke was wounded in this 
charge. His brigade lost first and last 230 men. 

As Sedgwick was retreating toward the river, Manly’s 
battery was called into play, and General Wilcox said: 
“Captain Manly’s battery rendered valuable service in 
shelling the retreating enemy near Banks’ ford. Twenty 


* Rebellion Records, XXV, I, 191 . 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


167 


of the enemy were wounded by this shelling and fell into 
our hands the next day, and many were killed.” 

The total Federal killed and wounded in this series of 
battles reached 12,216; they also lost 5,711 prisoners.* 
The total Confederate loss in killed and wounded was 
as follows: killed, 1,581; wounded, 8,700; total, 10,281. 
North Carolina had fewer regiments than usual with 
General Lee at this time. Both Ransom’s and Cooke’s 
brigades were on other duty. There were present in 
General Lee’s army in these battles, 124 regiments and 5 
battalions of infantry. North Carolina had present 24 
regiments and 1 battalion. Nearly exactly, then, one-fifth 
of the Confederate army was from North Carolina, and 
one-fifth of the battle casualties would have been, 
therefore, that State’s fair share of loss. However, of the 
total Confederate casualties—killed, 1,581; wounded, 
8,700—North Carolina lost in killed, 557; in wounded, 
2,394. f Thus more than one-third of the killed, and 
considerably over one-fourth of the wounded, were sons of 
North Carolina. Of the 124 regiments in the army of 
Northern Virginia, only three regiments J lost in this 
battle over 200 men in killed and wounded, and all three 
of these regiments were from North Carolina. Of the 
same number of regiments, only twelve lost over 150 men, 
and six of the twelve were from the same State. These 
twelve and their losses are as follows: Thirty-seventh 
North Carolina, 227; Second North Carolina, 214; Thir¬ 
teenth North Carolina, 209; Third North Carolina, 179; 
Fiftieth Virginia, 170; Twenty-second North Carolina, 
169; Seventh North Carolina, 164; Fourth Virginia, 163; 
Cobb’s legion, 157; Fourth North Carolina, 155; Fifth 
Alabama, 154; Fourth Georgia, 150. 

No words can ever make such undying attestation to 
North Carolina heroism as is borne by these simple fig- 

*Rebellion Records, XXV, I, pp. 185 , 191 . 

f Official Report, Rebellion Records, XXV, I, 809 . 

\ These three are, of course, the three highest on the list of the 
twelve. 



168 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ures. Among the killed were the following officers from 
North Carolina: Cols. J. T. Purdie, J. C. S. McDowell; 
Lieut.-Cols. C. C. Cole, J. L. Hill, and Maj. L. Odell. 
In the list of wounded were Gens. R. F. Hoke, S. D. 
Ramseur; Cols. T. M. Garrett, T. F. Toon, W. R. Cox, 
A. M. Scales, W. M. Barbour, C. M. Avery, E. G. Hay¬ 
wood; Lieut.-Cols. J. W. Lea, R. V. Cowan, W. H. A. 
Speer, Forney George, J. B. Ashcraft; Majs. M. McR. 
McLauchlin, W. G. Morris, W. L. Davidson, T. W. May- 
hew; Adjt. Ives Smedes. 

On June 9, 1863, at Fleetwood, near Brandy Station, 
the greatest cavalry engagement of the war occurred. 
The Union forces, numbering about 10,000 men, under 
General Pleasanton, attacked General Stuart, command¬ 
ing the Confederate cavalry, which numbered nearly the 
same as the Union horsemen. Stuart was caught be¬ 
tween the columns of Buford and Gregg, and drove back 
each in turn in a magnificent battle, in which both sides 
fought earnestly and courageously. General Hampton 
led the First North Carolina in a flank attack, and as the 
front attack succeeded, this regiment, under Colonel 
Baker, followed in hot pursuit, took many prisoners, and 
captured the colors of the Tenth New York regiment. 
General Hampton commends a dashing feat performed 
by a squadron under command of Capt. W. H. H. Cowles, 
who, with Capt. W. R. Wood, “charged through the ranks 
of the enemy, following him for some miles and return¬ 
ing around his columns in safety, with sixty prisoners. ’ ’ 
Captain Wood charged successfully an infantry force. 
The Fifth, Fourth and Second cavalry were also engaged. 
The Second regiment was severely engaged and lost its 
brave colonel, Sol. Williams, of whom General Stuart 
said: “He was as fearless as he was efficient.” Maj. 
Rufus Barringer, whose conduct is praised by General 
Hampton, was severely wounded. The Union loss was 
837; Confederate, 575. 

The day after this battle, General Ewell started on his 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


169 


campaign against General Milroy in the Shenandoah val¬ 
ley. General Ewell’s corps embraced the divisions of 
Rodes, Early and Johnson. In Rodes’ division were 
three North Carolina brigades, Iverson’s, Daniel’s and 
Ramseur’s; in Early’s was Hoke’s brigade, commanded 
during this campaign (General Hoke being wounded) by 
Col. I. E. Avery, of the Sixth North Carolina; in John¬ 
son’s division were the First and Third regiments. Gen¬ 
eral Daniel’s brigade had but recently been incorporated 
into the army of Virginia, and was constituted as follows: 
Thirty-second, Colonel Brabble; Forty-third, Colonel 
Kenan; Forty-fifth, Lieut.-Col. S. H. Boyd; Fifty-third, 
Colonel Owens, and Second battalion, Lieut.-Col. H. L. 
Andrews. 

General Rodes was sent to dislodge a force at Berry- 
ville, and General Ewell marched directly for Winchester. 
In the assault made by Early’s troops on the fortifications 
at Winchester, Hoke’s brigade was in reserve and not 
actively engaged. When the enemy evacuated Winches¬ 
ter and attacked General Steuart, of Johnson’s division, 
who had taken position at Jordan Springs to intercept the 
retreat, the First and Third North Carolina regiments 
and the two Virginia regiments making up the brigade, 
became engaged in a brilliant night battle. These regi¬ 
ments were in position along a railroad cut, and were 
largely outnumbered, but Milroy’s men could not move 
them from their line, and about 1,000 surrendered to 
General Steuart alone, who had been reinforced by the 
brigades of Nicholls and Walker. The First North Car¬ 
olina captured four stand of colors. Lieut. John A. 
Morgan, of the same regiment, greatly distinguished him¬ 
self by serving gallantly a piece of artillery commanding 
a bridge desired by the Federals. The losses in the two 
regiments were only 9 killed, 28 wounded. 

The brigades in General Rodes’ division were engaged 

Nc 22 


170 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in a successful pursuit of the enemy at Berryville and 
Martinsburg, but had no serious engagement until they 
reached Gettysburg. 

The weeks following Chancellorsville were busy weeks 
with the cavalry. At Middleburg, General Robertson, 
commanding the Fourth and Fifth North Carolina cav¬ 
alry, attacked a brigade of Pleasanton’s cavalry, and 
more than held his own in a plucky fight. In this engage¬ 
ment, Maj. James H. McNeill was wounded. Again near 
Middleburg, on the 19th of June, a sharp skirmish took 
place, in which the First, Fourth and Fifth cavalry were 
participants. 

At Upperville, on the 21st of June, the two cavalry 
forces joined in severe saber-to-saber conflicts, and the 
day was one of repeated and varying combat. The 
First North Carolina had a hand-to-hand fight with the 
First United States dragoons, and, Colonel Baker says, 
broke them by the charge. The Fifth and Fourth were 
heavily set upon in the rear, and Col. P. G. Evans se¬ 
verely wounded. 

On the 27th, at Fairfax Court House, the First North 
Carolina had, as General Stuart reported, “a spirited 
encounter with and chase after a detachment of Federal 
cavalry denominated Scott’s Nine Hundred, killing, 
wounding and capturing the greater portion, among them 
several officers; also horses, arms and equipments. The 
First North Carolina cavalry lost its major in the first 
onset—Maj. John H. Whitaker—an officer of distinction 
and great value to us.” The North Carolina losses in 
these battles were, killed, 31; wounded, 103. 


CHAPTER XI. 


THE CONFEDERATE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA— 
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG—NORTH CAROLINIANS 
IN THE THREE DAYS—FIGHTING ON THE RETREAT 
—THE POTOMAC RECROSSED BY LEE’S ARMY—CAV¬ 
ALRY FIGHTING IN VIRGINIA DURING THE INVA¬ 
SION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

A FTER General Hooker retreated from General 
Lee’s front at Chancellorsville, the Confederate 
commander determined to transfer the scene of 
hostilities beyond the Potomac. His army was put in 
motion, and by the 27th of June, his advance corps, under 
Ewell, was at Carlisle, Pa., and his other two corps, under 
Longstreet and A. P. Hill, were encamped near Cham- 
bersburg. The further advance of the army was arrested 
by intelligence that the Federal army had crossed the 
Potomac and was approaching South mountain. “In 
the absence of the cavalry,” says General Lee, “it was 
impossible to learn his intentions; but to deter him from 
advancing farther west and intercepting our communica¬ 
tion with Virginia, it was determined to concentrate the 
army east of the mountains. ” 

Accordingly, A. P. Hill’s corps was set in motion to¬ 
ward Gettysburg, and this corps was followed by Long- 
street’s a day later. General Ewell was directed to move 
back from Carlisle, and to join the army either at Cash- 
town or Gettysburg. Hill’s advance division, Heth’s, 
reached Cashtown on the 29th of June. From that point 
General Heth sent Pettigrew’s North Carolina brigade to 
Gettysburg to procure supplies. When General Petti¬ 
grew arrived at the outskirts of the town, he found it 


171 



172 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


occupied by the Federals, and, not knowing the force 
there, he returned to Cashtown. 

This was the first service of Pettigrew’s brigade with 
General Lee’s army, but, notwithstanding this fact, it 
was to render itself immortal by losing in this battle in 
killed and wounded (not prisoners), 208 more men than 
any other brigade in General Lee’s entire army.* Swin- 
ton says of this brigade, as well as the rest of Heth’s 
division: “The division on the left of Pickett, under com¬ 
mand of General Pettigrew, was in considerable part made 
up of North Carolina troops, comparatively green. ’ ’ f 
While the expressions “in considerable part ’’ and “com¬ 
paratively green ’’ are somewhat indefinite, yet, taking 
language in its usual sense, both are erroneous as applied 
to this division. In the first place, the division was com¬ 
posed of seventeen regiments, only five of which were 
from North Carolina. In the second place, if one bears 
in mind that none of Lee’s regiments was over two years 
old, “comparatively green’’ fits no one of those five regi¬ 
ments. The Eleventh regiment, the “Bethel regiment,” 
as it was known in North Carolina, was composed “in 
considerable part’’ of the men who had made up the First 
North Carolina regiment of volunteers, the oldest regi¬ 
ment in the Confederate service. After its reorganization 
under the accomplished Leventhorpe, it had been severely 
tested at Franklin, at White Hall, and at Blount’s creek. 
The Twenty-sixth regiment, commanded by as gallant a 
soldier as ever wore epaulettes, Harry K. Burgwyn, saw 
bloody service at New Bern, and took part, an honor¬ 
able part, in all the battles around Richmond. The 
Fifty-second regiment, trained and commanded by an 
educated soldier, the noble J. K. Marshall, was over a 
year old in its organization and had been tried, and borne 
itself bravely, in battle on the Black water, at Blount’s 
creek and at Goldsboro. The Forty-seventh regiment 

* See Dr. Guild’s Casualty List, Rebellion Records. 

f Army of the Potomac, p. 359 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


173 


also had been in service over a year, had for its officers 
many men originally members of the First regiment, had 
been under fire for three months in its campaigning in 
North Carolina, and while it had been in no great pitched 
battle, it was battle-tried. In like manner, the Fifty- 
fifth was not a new regiment. It was organized in the 
spring of 1862, had a dashing set of officers, and had 
many times before been under severe fire. 

The battle of the first day at Gettysburg was a clear 
Confederate victory. Gen. A. P. Hill reached Cashtown 
on the 30th, with his former division, now commanded by 
Pender, who was promoted to a major-generalship when 
General Hill became corps commander. The next morn¬ 
ing, July 1 st, General Hill advanced Heth and Pender to 
develop the force of the Federals. As Heth, who had 
the van, approached Gettysburg, he found his adversaries 
strongly posted on the northwestern approaches to the 
town. Heth, little realizing that he was opening in front 
of that obscure little town the greatest contest of modern 
times, ordered his leading brigades under Davis and 
Archer into action. Davis was north of the Chambers- 
burg pike, and was supported by Brockenbrough, who was 
just south of the pike. Archer, supported by Pettigrew, 
was south of the pike. Both brigades faced Seminary 
ridge. When the fighting began, only Buford’s cavalry 
held the ground for the Federals; but the First army 
corps, under Reynolds’ direction, was advancing rapidly 
to the support of the cavalry, and Cutler and the “Iron 
brigade,” under Morrow of Wadsworth’s division, soon 
took position in front of Seminary hill. 

Davis’ brigade, which consisted that day of only the 
Fifty-fifth North Carolina regiment, Colonel Connally, 
and two Mississippi regiments, encountered Cutler’s bri¬ 
gade. After a stubborn contest, waged until Davis’ men 
advanced within a few yards of their line, the Federals 
were broken, and by General Wadsworth’s order were 
temporarily retired to Seminary hill. Archer was not so 


174 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


fortunate as Davis. The “Iron brigade,” advancing 
through a wood that concealed it, swept unexpectedly 
around Archer’s right flank, captured him and many of 
his men, and broke the brigade badly. Archer out of the 
way, General Doubleday, who was directing operations 
after General Reynolds was killed, turned all his atten¬ 
tion to Davis. The Federal reserves were ordered in, and 
struck Davis in flank as he was, says General Double¬ 
day, “pursuing Cutler’s brigade toward town.” This 
reserve consisted of three regiments and ioo men of the 
brigade guard. General Doubleday says this reserve 
“went forward with great spirit, but was altogether too 
weak to assail so large a force. ”* A little search into 
records would have shown General Doubleday that Gen¬ 
eral Davis, the only officer on the field, had but three 
regiments f to meet his reserve three, and that they had 
already lost very severely, while the Federal three and 
brigade guard had not been under fire. This new attack 
fell on Davis’ front and flank just as he was preparing to 
retire, and broke his line, leaving the arriving brigades 
of Doubleday’s division free to form line of battle. Gen¬ 
eral Heth reports that Colonel Connally and Maj. A. H. 
Belo, of the North Carolina regiment, bore themselves 
‘ ‘with conspicuous gallantry. ” Lieutenant-Colonel Smith 
was killed. 

The high spirit of Connally and his men is shown by 
an incident narrated by Capt. C. M. Cooke of this regi¬ 
ment. Colonel Connally, while the regiment was advanc¬ 
ing, seized the battleflag and waved it encouragingly. 
He was at once shot down. Major Belo, who was near 
him, sprang to his side, inquiring whether he was much 
hurt. “Yes,” answered the colonel, “but do not pay any 
attention to me. Take the colors and keep ahead of the 
Mississippians.” 

After the repulse of Davis, a lull in the battle occurred. 

* Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, p. 132 . 

t One of his regiments was in Virginia, 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


175 


Heth reformed his lines, putting Archer’s brigade on his 
right next to the woods, then Pettigrew’s brigade of four 
North Carolina regiments on Archer’s left, then Brock- 
enbrough’s Virginia brigade to Pettigrew’s left. Davis 
was placed on the extreme left as a reserve, and to collect 
his stragglers. Pender’s division was formed just behind 
Heth; Lane’s brigade of North Carolinians on the right, 
then Perrin in the center, and Scales’ North Carolinians 
on the left. Thomas’ brigade was retained by the corps 
commander to meet a threatened advance from the left. 
General Doubleday in his book on Gettysburg again gets 
numbers wrong. He says: “As I had but four weak 
infantry brigades at this time against eight large brigades 
that were about to assail my lines, I would have been jus¬ 
tified in falling back.”* As just seen, the Confederates 
sent in only six brigades. The six Confederate brigades 
consisted of twenty-seven regiments. Doubleday’s four 
brigades had only eighteen regiments, it is true, but he 
had the assistance of Buford’s two cavalry brigades and 
horse artillery, and good service they did him by a dis¬ 
mounted fight, for they practically neutralized Archer’s 
gallant brigade. There is no reason to think that there 
was any great disparity in the regimental strength of the 
contestants; hence any claim of excessive numbers on the 
Confederate side is inadmissible. Moreover, the position 
of the Federal troops, on the ridge and behind stone walls, 
was worth several regiments. 

On the Federal side, Biddle faced Pettigrew and part 
of Stone’s brigade, and Meredith fronted Brockenbrough. 
Stone’s men faced both north and west, and were in 
formidable position on a ridge and behind a stone fence. 
To his right was Cutler, and then Baxter and Paul. 
These last two brigades, says General Hunt, “took post 
behind the stone walls of a field.” Baxter faced to the 
west and Paul to the north. These, then, were the posts 
of the six infantry brigades of the First corps, and formed 


* Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, 1882 , p. 134 . 



176 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY,\ 

the left of the Federal line. Buford’s cavalry was mainly 
on the left. To their right, the Eleventh corps, under 
General Howard, took post as it arrived on the field. 
General Schurz’s two brigades, under Schimmelfennig 
and Krzyzanowski, were on Reynolds’ immediate right, 
and Barlow’s two, under Gilsa and Ames, formed the 
extreme Federal right. 

While these troops were getting into battle order, Gen¬ 
eral Ewell’s corps was arriving and arraying itself on the 
Confederate left. Rodes’ division, the first to reach the 
field, formed on Heth’s left; Iverson’s North Carolina 
brigade occupying his right, O’Neal his center, and Doles 
his left. Daniel, with his North Carolina brigade, sup¬ 
ported Iverson, and had instruction to attack on his right 
if opportunity arose. Ramseur’s four North Carolina 
regiments were held in reserve. When Early’s division 
reported, it went into action with Gordon on the right, 
next to Doles, Hays on his left, and Hoke’s North Caro¬ 
lina brigade on the extreme Confederate left. Smith was 
in reserve. Johnson’s division did not arrive in time for 
the afternoon battle. 

General Doubleday, commenting on the converging 
lines of A. P. Hill and Ewell, says: “It would of course 
have been impossible to hold the line if Hill attacked on 
the west and Ewell assailed me at the same time on the 
north; but I occupied the central position, and their con¬ 
verging columns did not strike together until the grand, 
final advance at the close of the day, and therefore I was 
able to resist several of their attacks before the last crash 
came. ’ ’ * As these early attacks of the Confederates 
were not synchronous, it may facilitate an understanding 
of the part taken by the North Carolina brigades to follow 
them from the Confederate right to the left. On the 
right, Pettigrew’s brigade attacked Biddle’s Federal bri¬ 
gade, posted just in front of the west face of Seminary 
ridge. The attack began between two and three in the 


* Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, p. 139 . 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


177 


afternoon, and by 4 o’clock the brigade of Biddle was 
broken and driven back to aline partly protected by rails, 
just outside of the town. Capt. Louis G. Young, of 
Charleston, S. C., an aide-de-camp to General Pettigrew, 
bears this testimony to the soldiership of the brigade: 
“Opposite our left wing, composed of the Twenty-sixth 
and Eleventh North Carolina troops, the Federals fought 
desperately, inflicting so heavy a loss that too few were 
left for a successful bayonet charge; but our men pressed 
on persistently until the enemy was driven back to his 
intrenchments * just outside of the town, and from which 
he was quickly driven by Pender’s fine division. No 
troops could have fought better than did Pettigrew’s bri¬ 
gade on this day, and I will testify, on the experience of 
many hard-fought battles, that I never saw any fight so 
well. Its conduct was the admiration of all who witnessed 
the engagement; and it was the generally-expressed 
opinion that no brigade had done more effective service 
and won greater fame for itself than this one. The pris¬ 
oners themselves testified that they, native to the soil or 
which they were fighting, had fought with unusual deter- 
mination, but that there was no withstanding such an 
attack.”! General Hill, in his official report, corrobo¬ 
rates Captain Young: “Pettigrew’s brigade, under the 
leadership of that gallant officer and accomplished scholar, 
Brig.-Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew (now lost to his coun¬ 
try), fought as well, and displayed as heroic courage as 
it was ever my fortune to witness on a battlefield. . . . 
The Eleventh North Carolina regiment, Col. C. Leven- 
thorpe commanding, and the Twenty-sixth North Caro¬ 
lina regiment, Col. H. K. Burgwyn, Jr., commanding, 
displayed conspicuous gallantry, of which I was an eye¬ 
witness. The Twenty-sixth North Carolina regiment lost 
in this action more than half its numbers in killed and 

* This refers to the line of rails on Seminary ridge, mentioned by 
General Doubleday. 

f Our Living and Dead. 

Nc 29 



178 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


wounded, among whom were Colonel Burgwyn, killed, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Lane, severely wounded. Colonel 
Leventhorpe, of the Eleventh regiment, was wounded, 
and Major Ross killed. The Fifty-second and Forty-sev¬ 
enth, on the right of the center, were subjected to a heavy 
artillery fire, but suffered much less than the Eleventh and 
Twenty-sixth North Carolina regiments. These regi¬ 
ments behaved to my entire satisfaction. ’’ Biddle’s bri¬ 
gade being driven back, Pettigrew’s men co-operated 
with Brockenbrough’s brigade in its attempts to dislodge 
Meredith’s “Iron brigade’’ under Morrow, that was tena¬ 
ciously holding its position. The two soon sent him back 
to Biddle’s new position on Seminary hill, but he had 
been a gallant foeman, for he reports here a loss of 316 
killed and wounded, out of a total of 496. 

Pender’s division moved up behind Heth’s lines, now 
commanded by General Pettigrew, as General Heth had 
been wounded; and when Pender found Heth’s men 
“much exhausted and greatly reduced by several hours’ 
hard and successful fighting, ’ ’ he ordered his division to 
take the front line and charge Seminary hill. General 
Lane’s brigade was so delayed by the dismounted Federal 
cavalry on the right, that it did not get a fair opportu¬ 
nity to engage the enemy in front except a force posted in 
a wood. ' Perrin and Scales pressed straight up the hill 
in face of a close and accurate fire. Major Engelhard, 
assistant adjutant-general, who made the official report 
for Pender’s division, said of Scales’ North Carolinians: 
“General Scales on the left, with his left resting on the 
turnpike, after passing the troops of General Heth, ad¬ 
vanced at a charge upon the flank of a brigade of the 
enemy which was engaged with the extreme left of Gen¬ 
eral Heth’s division, upon the opposite side of the road, 
which soon caused the enemy to fall back.” The Fed- 
erals, under General Doubleday’s direction, had been very 
actively putting artillery on the hill, and it now opened 
murderously upon Scales, as he descended the hill to 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 179 

charge up on the other side. Engelhard’s report contin¬ 
ues: “[The brigade] encountered a most terrific fire of 
grape and shell on the left flank, and grape and musketry 
in front, but still it pressed forward at double-quick until 
the bottom was reached. . . . Here the fire was most 
severe.” The brigade halted at the foot of the hill to 
make reply to the enemy’s fire. General Pender rushed 
up, urging the men to stop only to reform, and General 
Scales, though badly wounded in the leg, ordered his 
men to charge the hill. Led by Lieut.-Col. G. T. Gor¬ 
don, of the Thirty-fourth regiment, the men dashed for 
the ridge, and attacking it concurrently with Ewell’s 
advance, drove the Federals through Gettysburg. As 
they entered the town, the men of this brigade met their 
comrades from Ramseur’s North Carolina brigade, and 
also from Hoke’s brigade. These latter brigades entered 
from the north side of the town. 

During the progress of this battle on the right, Rodes’ 
division of Ewell’s corps had been fiercely engaged. Bax¬ 
ter’s Federal brigade repulsed O’Neal, and then moved 
forward and took post behind a stone wall on the Mum- 
masburg road. In that position Iverson, supported by 
Daniel, attacked it. Iverson seems to have sent forward 
his line of battle with no skirmishers in front, and reports 
that his men rushed upon a “concealed stone wall.” 
General Doubleday thus states the disadvantage at which 
Iverson’s brave men were taken: “As his [Baxter’s] men 
lay down behind the [rock] fence, Iverson’s brigade came 
up very close, not knowing our troops were there. Bax¬ 
ter’s men sprang to their feet and delivered a most deadly 
volley at very short range, which left 500 of Iverson’s 
men dead and wounded, and so demoralized them that 
all gave themselves up as prisoners. One regiment, how¬ 
ever, after stopping our firing by putting up a white flag, 
slipped away and escaped. ’ ’ * There is a mixture of 
truth and error in these statements. The men composing 


* Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, p. 143 . 



180 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Iverson’s line of battle did fall almost in their tracks. 
General Rodes’ expression, “His dead lay in a distinctly 
marked line of battle, ’ ’ exactly describes the catastrophe. 
As they stood there, too proud to retreat without orders 
and too sorely smitten to advance, they did, as General 
Rodes says, “fight and die like heroes.” When their left 
was overpowered, many were captured, but no regiment 
raised a white flag and slipped away under it. The 
Twelfth regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Davis, which 
is the regiment to which General Doubleday refers, so 
far from slipping away, stood its ground under the terrific 
fire until Ramseur’s brigade came to its succor. It then 
joined Ramseur, and had the satisfaction of assisting in 
forcing the Federals from their position, and of capturing 
more prisoners than it well knew what to do with. The 
fire that was so destructive to Iverson and also to Daniel 
was not from Baxter’s men alone. Baxter was aided by 
the batteries posted between his brigade and that of 
Cutler, which was thrown forward on Iverson’s flank, and 
also by a more distant fire from Stone’s men. So long 
as Stone held his position, his line with that of Cutler 
and Robinson’s division constituted what is known as a 
demi-bastion and curtain, and “every force,” says Double¬ 
day, “that entered the angle suffered severely.” Rodes, 
in his report, speaks of it as a “murderous enfilade and 
reverse fire, to which, in addition to the direct fire it 
encountered, Daniel’s brigade had been subject to from 
the time it commenced its final advance. ’ ’ 

General Daniel’s brigade of North Carolinians had fol¬ 
lowed Iverson into action, but when Iverson obliqued his 
men somewhat to the left, the movement uncovered Dan¬ 
iel’s front, and he went into direct action against Stone 
and his reinforcements; but sent Colonel Kenan with the 
Forty-third and Colonel Owen with the Fifty-third, to aid 
Iverson and his own left. Some of Stone’s men were advan¬ 
tageously posted in a railroad cut, and were assisted by two 
batteries of artillery. As Daniel surged forward, the action 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


181 


was becoming more general. General Rodes’ report gives 
a succinct account of what followed. He says: ‘ ‘ The right 
of this brigade coming upon the enemy strongly posted in 
a railroad cut, was, under its able commander’s orders, 
thrown back skillfully, and the position of the whole bri¬ 
gade was altered so as to enable him to throw a portion 
of his force across the railroad, enfilade it, and attack to 
advantage. After this change General Daniel made a 
most desperate, gallant and entirely successful charge 
upon the enemy, driving him at all points, but suffering 
terribly. The conduct of General Daniel and his brigade 
in this most desperate engagement elicited the admiration 
and praise of all who witnessed it. Just as his last effort 
was made, Ramseur’s brigade, which under my orders had 
been so disposed as to support both Iverson and O’Neal, 
was ordered forward, and was hurled by its commander, 
with the skill and gallantry for which he is always con¬ 
spicuous, with irresistible force, upon the enemy just 
where he had repulsed O’Neal and checked Iverson’s 
advance. . . . The Twelfth North Carolina regiment, 
which had been held well in hand by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Davis, and the shattered remnants of the other regiments 
of Iverson’s brigade, which had been rallied and organized 
by Capt. D. P. Halsey, assistant adjutant-general of the 
brigade, made, under his guidance, a dashing and effect¬ 
ive charge just in time to be of considerable service to 
Ramseur and Daniel, and with them pressed closely after 
the enemy. ’ ’ Davis’ three regiments, including the Fifty- 
fifth North Carolina, had also joined Daniel in his persist¬ 
ent endeavors. 

The success of this part of the line had not been easily 
won. Paul’s brigade went to reinforce Baxter, and the 
whole Federal First corps was now engaged. At one 
time Daniel’s line was brought to a halt on the railroad 
cut, which was impassable at the point the men reached 
it. The Forty-fifth regiment and the Second battalion, 
gallantly supported by the Forty-third and Fifty-third, 


182 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


fought their way to this critical point. Then Colonel Brab¬ 
ble, bold and ready always, was ordered to take the Thirty- 
second and, by a circuit, cross the cut and storm the bat¬ 
tery at the barn. This was handsomely done. At the same 
time, the brigades of Pettigrew and Brockenbrough, as 
already seen, threw their weight on the right of Daniel as 
he advanced, and all the forces on his left also advanced. 
This general attack crushed the opposition in its front, 
and the Federal line swung back. Rodes followed the 
enemy into Gettysburg. Two of his brigades, Doles’ and 
Ramseur’s, became involved in skirmishes in the streets. 

Only one other North Carolina brigade was in action 
on this day. That was Hoke’s brigade, commanded by 
Col. I. E. Avery. It, as seen above, was on the extreme 
Confederate left, just east of the Heidlersburg road. 
When the Eleventh corps was defeated, the brigades of 
Hoke and Hays were sent in pursuit. General Howard 
ordered Coster’s brigade to advance and cover the retreat 
of Schurz’ division. This brigade formed behind a fence 
on the hillside to the northeast of the town. Avery’s 
men and Hays’ Louisianians pressed toward Coster’s 
fence. Shells from the artillery on top of the ridge, fol¬ 
lowed by canister, admonished the Carolinians to move 
quickly. Colonel Avery, cool and resolute, ordered the 
brigade to double-quick up the slope and go over the 
fence. The men dashed after him, and in a few moments 
had displaced the Federal brigade and were hastening to 
the town. The Sixth North Carolina captured two pieces 
of artillery. Avery’s brigade was directed to the east of 
the town and was halted at the foothills of Cemetery 
ridge. There it was exposed to a rapid artillery fire from 
the guns on that hill, but soon found shelter in a 
depression. 

That night thirteen Confederate brigades bivouacked in 
or around the town of Gettysburg; six of these were from 
North Carolina. Sixteen Confederate brigades did all 
the fighting on the first day at Gettysburg; seven of these, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 183 

Daniel’s, Hoke’s, Iverson’s, Lane’s, Pettigrew’s, Ram- 
seur’s and Scales’, were from North Carolina. These bri¬ 
gades had been opposed principally to the Federal First 
corps, Buford’s cavalry and the artillery of both arms. 
Their own losses and the losses of the First corps are suf¬ 
ficient evidence of soldierly bearing. The commander of 
that corps, after Reynolds, says: “General Wadsworth 
reported half his men as dead or wounded, and Rowley’s 
division suffered in the same proportion. Stone reported 
that two-thirds of his brigade had fallen. Hardly a field 
officer remained unhurt. General Robinson reported a 
loss of 1,667, out of 2,500.’’ 

The second day at Gettysburg was nearly equal in 
advantages to the contending armies, but the result 
inspired the Confederates with the hope of triumph. On 
the morning of the second day at Gettysburg and in the 
early afternoon, no North Carolina troops were in the 
assaulting forces. Four North Carolina batteries were 
pOvSted along the center and right of the Confederate 
lines. These were Manly’s, Reilly’s, Latham’s and 
Capt. Joseph Graham’s. They faithfully executed the 
duties assigned them, and were under fire and engaged 
as circumstances required. 

In the late afternoon, Johnson’s division was ordered to 
assail Culp’s hill. One of his brigades, Walker’s, was 
detached, but his remaining three prepared for the attack. 
Early’s and Rodes’ divisions were to co-operate in this 
movement up the rugged and mountainous acclivity, 
strong by nature, and rendered more formidable by 
intrenchments and abatis. Jones led off, followed by 
Nicholls and Steuart. The First and Third North Caro¬ 
lina regiments were members of Steuart’s brigade. 
These two regiments were veteran campaigners and 
indomitable fighters. They crossed Rocky creek and 
broke their way through the thick woods in spite of an 
incessant artillery fire, and were soon within range of 
Greene’s and Wadsworth’s muskets. If it had not been 


184 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


so dark, they would have fared far worse. On they 
pressed until Steuart’s men captured Greene’s works. 
Colonel Brown, of the First regiment, says that Lieut. 
Green Martin of that regiment was the first to enter the 
works, and was mortally wounded a moment later. That 
night they slept in the captured works, but their slumbers 
were broken before day by fast-falling shells. They were 
attacked by infantry, but repulsed the attack. Daniel’s 
brigade, which had marched nearly all night, now rein¬ 
forced Stewart. These two brigades then made a deter¬ 
mined charge against the Federal works in their front, 
but were repulsed. Again they boldly charged, but the 
position was too strong and defended by too many soldiers 
for their weak numbers to be successful. They inflicted 
a severe loss on the Federals. There in the lines of the 
enemy these brigades and other troops remained until 12 
o’clock that night, when they were ordered back to town. 

It had been ordered that when Johnson engaged Culp’s 
hill in the attack just described, Early and Rodes should 
assault Cemetery hill. Rodes failed to get there in time, 
but it was through no fault of that resolute, skillful and 
energetic soldier, for he moved promptly on his orders, 
but arrived just after the repulse of Early’s two brigades. 

Early selected the brigades of Hays and Hoke (the lat¬ 
ter commanded by Col. I. E. Avery) “to dare the ven¬ 
ture of that bristling hill. ’ ’ These two brigades, under 
the immediate command of General Hays, moved through 
the wide ravine between Culp’s and Cemetery hills, up 
the rugged ascent, and made, as General Longstreet de¬ 
clares, “as gallant a fight as was ever made.” General 
Hunt, of the Federal army, says of their advance: “A line 
of infantry on the slopes was broken, and Weidrich’s 
Eleventh corps battery and Pickett’s reserve batteries 
near the brow of the hill were overrun; but the excellent 
position of Stevens’ 12-pounders at the head of the ravine, 
which enabled him to sweep it, the arrival of Carroll’s 
brigade sent unasked by Hancock, and the failure of 

Nc 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


185 


Rodes to co-operate with Early, caused the attack to mis¬ 
carry. The cannoneers of the two batteries so summarily 
ousted, rallied and recovered their guns by a vigorous 
attack—with pistols by those who had them, by others 
with handspikes, rammers, stones, and even fence-rails— 
the ‘Dutchmen’ showing that they were in noway in¬ 
ferior to their ‘Yankee’ comrades who had been taunt¬ 
ing them ever since Chancellorsville. After an hour’s 
desperate fighting, the enemy was driven out with heavy 
loss, Avery being among the killed.”* This gallant 
officer, smitten unto death by a bullet through the neck, 
and being unable to speak, drew from his pocket a slip of 
paper, and in the darkness traced on it with dying fingers, 
“Major Tate , tell father that I died with my face to the enemy." 

The fighting over the guns was unusually fierce. In 
reference to one of the captured batteries, Major Tate, in 
a letter to Governor Vance, dated July 8, 1863, says: 
“Seventy-five North Carolinians of the Sixth regiment, 
and twelve Louisianians of Hays’ brigade, scaled the wall 
and planted the colors of the Sixth North Carolina regi¬ 
ment and Ninth Louisiana on the guns. The enemy stood 
with a tenacity never before displayed, but with bayonet, 
clubbed musket, sword and pistol, and rocks from the 
wall, we cleared the heights and silenced the guns.” 
Their bravery was to go unrewarded, however. No sup¬ 
ports came to relieve their struggles for the guns and for 
the hill. Not only Carroll, but also a Pennsylvania regi¬ 
ment and a force from Schurz’ division joined their 
enemies, and finding that they were about to be over¬ 
whelmed, they retreated. The lodgment here effected, 
if followed up promptly, would have turned the whole 
Federal line. 

On the third day the Federals were entirely successful 
in defense, but were made unable to assail. The result 
of the second day’s battle “induced the belief,” says Gen¬ 
eral Lee in his official report, “that we should ultimately 

* Battles and Leaders, III, p. 312. 

No 24 



186 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


succeed, and it was accordingly determined to continue 
the attack. ’ ’ General Lee’s report continues: * 4 The gen¬ 
eral plan was unchanged. Longstreet, reinforced by 
Pickett’s three brigades, . . . was ordered to attack the 
next morning, and General Ewell was directed to assail 
the enemy’s right at the same time.” General Long- 
street, however, found that he needed some of his troops, 
hence a change in the plan of assault became necessary. 
It was finally decided that Pickett’s division from Long- 
street’s corps, and Heth’s division from Hill’s corps, should 
constitute the column of assault, and that this column 
should be properly supported by a second line. It has 
often been asserted, and there are still people ignorant 
enough to believe the assertion, that to Heth’s division, 
commanded that day by General Pettigrew, was assigned 
the duty of supporting Pickett’s division. Others have 
been found ignorant enough of their country’s history to 
assert that Pickett’s attack failed because it was not sup¬ 
ported by Pettigrew. General Lee’s official report ought 
forever to dispose of these errors. He accurately sets 
forth the true relations of all the attacking forces when 
he says: ‘ ‘ General Longstreet ordered forward the column 
of attack, consisting of Pickett’s and Heth’s divisions, 
in two lines, Pickett on the right. Wilcox’s brigade 
marched in rear of Pickett’s right, to guard the flank, 
and Heth’s was supported by Lane’s and Scales’ brigades 
under General Trimble. ’ ’ Here, then, is given the front 
line, Pickett and Heth; the second, or supporting line, 
Wilcox, Lane and Scales. Pettigrew was no more sup¬ 
porting Pickett than was Ewell, a mile or more away; all 
three were ordered to make coincident attacks, as General 
Lee states, and Pettigrew was ordered to dress his line on 
Pickett. Pickett’s assault failed for the same reason that 
Pettigrew’s failed—because the men making it were flesh 
and blood. Had they been disembodied spirits, they could 
possibly have survived the artillery and musketry fire 
from those heights. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


187 


In the memorable charge of the last day at Gettysburg 
there were forty-seven Confederate regiments engaged. 
Nineteen of these were from Virginia, fifteen being in 
Pickett’s division and four in Heth’s; fifteen regiments 
were from North Carolina, three from Tennessee, seven 
from Alabama, and three from Mississippi. The North 
Carolina regiments were distributed as follows: Five in 
General Scales’ brigade, commanded by Colonel Low- 
rance; five in General Lane’s brigade, four in General 
Pettigrew’s brigade, and one in General Davis’ brigade. 

To prepare the way for the assaulting column, 115 Con¬ 
federate guns had been massed in front of the left center 
of the Federal position. These were replied to by 80 
Federal guns massed in front of the point of attack. The 
roar of these guns as they burst into deadly action fairly 
shook the rocky hills, and was heard, it is said, fifty miles 
away. “Strong battle was in the air, and the veterans of 
both sides swelled their breasts to gather nerve and 
strength to meet it.’’ 

The Federals had strengthened their stronghold on the 
ridge and concentrated their lines for the stern conflict 
that they saw impending. Hancock held the portion of 
their line that was to receive the severest shock. Webb’s 
brigade was behind a stone wall and breastworks. Hall 
and Smyth were on his left and right, respectively, Wil- 
liardto Smyth’s right. Stannardwas ready to fall on the 
flank of the Confederate right. The second line was 
posted behind a crest. Howard’s corps held its former 
place, and Doubleday’s men held lines to Gibbon’s left. 
All lay in readiness, screening themselves as best they 
could from the fire of the artillery that was soon to cease 
from want of ammunition. “We lay behind a slight rise 
of ground,’’ says an occupant of the second line, “just 
sufficient to hide us from the view of the rebels. It was 
awfully hot, and we were so close to the ground that not 
a breath of air could reach us. ’ ’ A row of guns quivered 
expectantly between the two lines. 


188 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Pickett and Pettigrew mounted and spurred for their 
commands. Officers with stern smiles and fixed faces 
took their places to lead the long lines of eager men 
toward their grimly waiting foes. Clouds of dust arose 
from moving columns; aides dashed from command to 
command, bearing orders and rectifying alignments; bay¬ 
onets were set, ammunition boxes were opened, battle- 
flags tossed impatiently. Then the grand march against 
stone walls, fortifications, a hill crowned with the engines 
of death, was taken up with dauntless step. The lesson 
taught by Malvern Hill and Fredericksburg was again 
to be burned into unretentive memories. Two armies 
watch with fiery excitement as the stately columns, soon 
to moulder into dust, sweep over the intervening plain. 
Gallantly the officers lead; superbly the men follow. 
Now with blazes of pent-up destruction the silent guns 
burst into life. Round shot, shells, canister, shrapnel 
mingle in mad race to carry desolation to distant homes. 
Men begin to fall. “Close on your colors, ” fiercely shout 
the captains; officers go down, their juniors rush forward; 
colors from death-loosened fingers strike the ground only 
to be raised triumphantly by the nearest hand; greater 
gaps are rent, and instantly filled by the shrinking but 
unfaltering lines. Brockenbrough’s brigade is borne 
down, Davis’ line is staggered. Lane and Lowrance from 
the second line rush forward with their sturdy Carolinians, 
and without a halt Pettigrew’s men push closer. The 
rifle shots from Gibbon’s men now begin to find lodg¬ 
ment, and men sink by scores. In the wild roar of the 
battle no words of command can be heard, but caps and 
swords wave on the depleted ranks to still more desperate 
attempts. 

The Federal line was parallel to Pickett’s front, but 
turned back at an angle in front of Pettigrew, hence his 
men had further to go to reach the works. They 
reached the Emmitsburg road, struggling then at close 
quarters and pushing down the first fence. The sur- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


189 


vivors of the division clambered over the fence on the other 
side of the road, and rushed for the works and guns. The 
front Federal line was seriously broken, but the second 
line rushed to the front and savagely engaged, while the 
guns worked incessantly. Some of the men from differ¬ 
ent companies and regiments broke into the Federal lines 
in a frenzied endeavor to plant their colors there. Let 
an eye-witness, Captain Young, tell the sequel: “Under 
this fire from artillery and musketry, the brigade on our 
left, reduced almost to a line of skirmishers, gave way. 
Pettigrew’s and Archer’s brigades advanced a little 
farther, and in perfect continuation of Pickett’s line, 
which arrived at the works before we did, only because 
they jutted out in his front, and because he had to move 
over a considerably shorter distance. The right of the 
line formed by Archer’s and Pettigrew’s brigades rested 
on the works, while the left was, of course, further re¬ 
moved, say 40 to 60 yards. [The Federal line, as seen 
above, bent back here. ] Subjected to a fire even more fatal 
than that which had driven back the brigade on our left, 
and the men listening in vain for the cheering commands 
of officers who had, alas, fallen, our brigade gave way 
likewise, and simultaneously with it, the whole line. ’ ’ * 
The North Carolina losses in this battle were startling. 
It has been erroneously said that they were “raw troops. ’’ 
If this were so, ambitious generals ought to ask only for 
such “raw troops.’’ Captain Young states that on the 
morning of July 1st, Pettigrew’s brigade numbered from 
2,800 to 3,000 men, and on the 4th only 835 were present 
for duty. “All the field officers, save one, who was cap¬ 
tured, were killed or wounded, and the brigade was com¬ 
manded, after the repulse at Cemetery hill, by Major 
Jones of the Twenty-sixth regiment, who had been struck, 
on the TSt, by a fragment of a shell, and was knocked 
down and stunned on the 3d. On the 1st, Captain Tuttle, 
of the Twenty-sixth regiment, led into action 2 lieu- 


* Our Living and Dead. 



190 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


tenants and 84 men; all of the officers and 83 of the men 
were killed or wounded. Company C of the Eleventh 
regiment lost 2 officers killed, and 34 out of 38 men. 
Captain Bird, with the remaining four, participated in the 
fight of the 3d.” Every man in Company A of the 
Thirty-eighth regiment was shot down except two, and 
they were captured. The losses were equally great in 
other companies, whose glorious records have not been so 
painstakingly preserved. 

The North Carolina soldiers feel that writers on the 
great combat at Gettysburg have never placed a fair esti¬ 
mate upon their important services. Almost uniformly 
Pickett’s splendid charge has been glorified, and Petti¬ 
grew’s equally splendid one minimized or disparaged. 
No North Carolina soldier desires to detract one scruple 
from the fame of “Pickett and his Virginians,” but he 
does want “Pettigrew and his North Carolinians” 
and other troops accorded their bloodily-won laurels. 
Take as an example, a writer quoted by Captain Bond: 
“The right (Pickett) behaved gloriously; the left (Petti¬ 
grew) faltered and fled. Each body acted according to 
its nature, for they were made of different stuff; the 
one of common earth, the other of finest clay. Petti¬ 
grew’s men were North Carolinians, Pickett’s were superb 
Virginians. ” To show that on this field the North Caro¬ 
linians measured squarely up to every soldierly obliga¬ 
tion, it is necessary only to examine, first, what they 
accomplished; second, to add the official casualty list. 
Let us take these separately. 

In the first day’s entirely successful battle, sixteen 
Confederate brigades followed their colors in action; seven 
of these, nearly one-half, were from North Carolina. In 
the second day’s battle, but two Confederate brigades 
penetrated within the lines on Cemetery hill; one of 
these was Hoke’s North Carolina brigade. On the third 
day, the unequivocal testimony of the commanders on the 
field, and under the guns, is that they went as far and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 191 

remained as long as Pickett’s line of battle, and that the 
only reason they did not penetrate as solidly into the 
enemy’s works was that, as already explained, the Fed¬ 
eral works, beginning at Pettigrew’s right, bent back. 
Hence Pettigrew’s men, being in line with Pickett’s, had 
farther to charge to enter those works. General Trimble, 
a sternly courageous Marylander, says: “They did get to 
the road and drove the opposing line from it. The loss 
here was fearful, and I knew that no troops could live 
long to endure it. I was anxious to know how things 
went on with the troops on our right, and taking a quick 
but deliberate view of the field over which Pickett had 
advanced, I perceived that the enemy’s fire seemed to 
slacken there, and men in squads were falling back on 
the west side of the Emmitsburg road. By this I inferred 
that Pickett’s division had been repulsed, and if so, that 
it would be a useless sacrifice of life to continue the contest. 
I, therefore, did not attempt to rally the men who began 
to give back at the fence. ’ ’ * 

General Lane’s testimony, the testimony of a gallant 
Virginian, is the same. He says: “As soon as I could 
dismount from my wounded, plunging horse, I ordered 
Colonel [C. M. ] Avery, in command of my left regiment, 
to move to meet the force above referred to, when he 
quickly replied, ‘ My God, General, do you intend rushing 
your men into such a place unsupported when the troops 
on the right are failing back?’ Seeing that it was useless 
to sacrifice my brave men, I ordered my brigade back. ’ ’ f 
The testimony of scores of others to the same facts is on 
record. 

In the Gettysburg cavalry fight, of which W. Brooke- 
Rawle says, “for minutes which seemed like hours, 
amid the clashing of sabers, the rattle of small-arms, the 
frenzied imprecations, the demands to surrender, the 
undaunted replies, and the appeals for mercy, the Con- 


* Letter quoted in Moore’s History, II, 256. 
f Letter in same, p. 206. 



192 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


federate column stood its ground,” North Carolina had 
also worthy representation in the enthusiastic charge of 
its First cavalry regiment under Colonel Baker, and in 
the meritorious services of the other regiments from that 
State. 

In the second place, it is a rule of war, to which there 
are exceptions generally due to position, that the force that 
incurs the most casualties in killed or wounded is the force 
that stands most obstinately under fire and also inflicts 
the most loss on its adversaries. Tried by this rule, the 
soldiers from the North State have, according to Surgeon 
Guild’s official report,* much to show their bravery. 

First, the total Confederate loss in killed and wounded 
(not including “missing”) was 15,301; the total North 
Carolina loss in killed and wounded was 4,033, over one- 
fourth of the total loss. Four hundred in killed and 
wounded is considered a severe brigade loss. Only six¬ 
teen Confederate brigades lost over that number at Gettys¬ 
burg; four of these, one-fourth, were from North Caro¬ 
lina. The heaviest regimental loss at Gettysburg, 588 
men, was incurred by the Twenty-sixth North Carolina 
regiment. In the whole of General Lee’s army, only eight 
regiments lost as high as 200 men in killed and wounded; 
three of these, the Eleventh, Twenty-sixth and Forty- 
fifth, were from the same State. Only eighteen regi¬ 
ments had over 150 killed and wounded; seven of these 
were likewise from North Carolina. 

Second, in Pickett’s grand charge on the right there 
were fifteen regiments. The total number of killed and 
wounded in these fifteen regiments was 1,364. In Heth’s 
division, commanded on the 3d by Pettigrew, there were 
five North Carolina regiments. The killed and wounded 
in these five regiments amounted in the two days that 
they fought to 1,303. In other words, the killed and 
wounded in five North Carolina regiments of Pettigrew’s 
division lacked only 61 men of numbering as many as the 


* Rebellion Records, XXVII, II, 338-346. 



C ONFED ERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


193 


killed and wounded in the whole fifteen of Pickett’s 
division. The five regiments just mentioned had 229 
killed in their two days of fighting; Pickett’s fifteen regi¬ 
ments had 224 killed. That is, these five regiments from 
North Carolina had, during the battle, actually five more 
men killed than Pickett’s fifteen. Yet little has been 
written of the modest daring of these men. Swinton goes 
so far as to say that men who could die in this way were 
only induced to charge by being told they were to 
meet merely ‘ ‘ Pennsylvania militia, ’ ’ and that when they 
saw Meade’s banners, they broke in disorder, crying, “The 
army of the Potomac!” Most of the men on the left, of 
Pettigrew’s and Trimble’s divisions, had chased the army 
of the Potomac too often to so suddenly make a god Pan 
out of it. 

During these days of blood, North Carolina lost many 
of her most soldierly sons. Gen. W. D. Pender, the 
State’s senior officer on the field, was mortally wounded. 
General Pender was graduated from West Point in 1854. 
He served with distinction in many Indian campaigns, 
and, after resigning from the United States army to serve 
his native State, had, in every battle he entered, added 
to his reputation as a cool, sagacious, intrepid and persist¬ 
ent fighter. No fitter eulogium can be framed than was 
penned by the great commander whom he loved so well 
and served so faithfully. General Lee said of his loss: 
“General Pender has since died. This lamented officer 
has borne a distinguished part in every engagement of 
this army, and was wounded on several occasions while 
leading his command with conspicuous gallantry and 
ability. The confidence and admiration inspired by his 
courage and capacity as an officer were only equaled by 
the esteem and respect entertained by all with whom he 
was associated for the noble qualities of his modest and 
unassuming character. ” 

Next in rank to fall was Col. I. E. Avery, commanding 
Hoke’s brigade. Colonel Avery had been recommended 

Nc 25 


194 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


for promotion by Generals Pender, Hood, Law and Early, 
and only his untimely death robbed him of his general’s 
commission. He had been mentioned for meritorious 
conduct upon every field upon which his regiment was 
engaged. During General Hoke’s absence, from a 
wound, Colonel Avery had commanded the brigade, and 
as General Early reports, “worthily filled the absent 
general’s place. “ Although a believer and enforcer of 
discipline, Colonel Avery’s fairness, urbanity and upright¬ 
ness had drawn his men very close to him. 

With him had gone other splendid soldiers. Among 
them the “boy colonel’’ of the Twenty-sixth, the noble- 
souled, lion-hearted Harry K. Burgwyn; the daring, 
experienced and able Col. D. H. Christie; the accom¬ 
plished, polished and soldierly colonel of the Fifty-second, 
J. K. Marshall; Lieut.-Col. H. L. Andrews, whose splendid 
leadership had encouraged the Second battalion to fight 
so grimly and lose so terribly; Lieut.-Col. M. T. Smith, 
the Christian soldier whose quiet example of conscientious 
discharge of duty left a lasting impression on the Fifty- 
fifth regiment; Maj. E. A. Ross, a hard fighter and 
earnest friend. Among the wounded field officers were 
Cols. J. K. Connally, C. Leventhorpe, T. S. Kenan, S. D. 
Lowe, F. M. Parker, R. T. Bennett; Lieut.-Cols. J. R. 
Lane, S. H. Boyd, R. D. Johnston, M. A. Parks, and 
W. J. Green, acting aide to General Pettigrew; Majs. 
A. H. Belo, J. R. Winston, J. M. Hancock, H. G. Lewis, 
D. W. Hurtt, C. C. Blacknall; Adjts. T. C. James and 
J. B. Jordan, and perhaps others equally brave whom the 
records do not mention. Several of these officers, like 
the gallant colonel of the Forty-third, T. S. Kenan, had 
not only the ill fortune to be wounded, but had added to 
it the misfortune of spending the rest of the time covered 
by the war in a Federal prison. 

The day after the battle of Gettysburg, General Lee 
remained in position to see whether the Federals desired 
to attack him. General Meade showing no intention of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


195 


acting, the Confederate army withdrew on the night of 
the 4th of July, but owing to delays incident to heavy 
rains, General Ewell’s corps did not leave its ground until 
the 5th. 

On the 6th, Buford’s cavalry, subsequently reinforced 
by Kilpatrick, moved on Williamsport to destroy the Con¬ 
federate trains. This attack was met by Imboden’s small 
cavalry command, reinforced by the Fifty-fourth North 
Carolina regiment of infantry, under Col. K. M. Murchi¬ 
son, and the Thirty-first Virginia infantry. These two 
regiments were returning from Richmond, where they had 
been sent to escort prisoners. These forces completely 
repulsed the Federal cavalry in a spirited fight. General 
Buford says in his report: “Just before dark, Kilpatrick’s 
troops gave way, passing to my rear by the right, and 
were closely followed by the enemy. ’ ’ After this, Buford 
ordered his forces to withdraw. Colonel Murchison lost 
2 men killed and 15 wounded. 

At Hagerstown, on the same day, Stuart’s cavalry and 
portions of Iverson’s North Carolina brigade were engaged 
in a hot conflict with Kilpatrick’s cavalry division. In 
this engagement, the four North Carolina cavalry regi¬ 
ments that had followed Stuart in his long raid into Penn¬ 
sylvania, participating in the battles at Sykesville, Little¬ 
ton, Hanover, Hunterstown and Gettysburg, bore them¬ 
selves with their usual gallantry. These four were the 
First, Colonel Baker; the Second, Lieut.-Col. C. M. 
Andrews; the Fourth, Colonel Ferebee, and the Fifth, 
commanded by Lieut.-Col. J. B. Gordon, of the First regi¬ 
ment, after the mortal wounding of its brave and soldierly 
colonel, Peter G. Evans. Chambliss’ brigade, to which 
the Second cavalry belonged, although reduced to a skele¬ 
ton, made, in co-operation with General Robertson’s two 
regiments, the Fourth and Fifth, what General Stuart 
called a “gallantly executed charge. ’’ General Stuart 


196 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


specially praised a repulse of the Federals by Colonel 
Gordon, “commanding a fragment of the Fifth North 
Carolina cavalry. ’ ’ 

On the 8th, the First regiment of cavalry and the other 
regiments of Hampton’s brigade, commanded, after Gen¬ 
eral Hampton was wounded, by Col. L. S. Baker of the 
First North Carolina, and Chambliss’ brigade, had an ani¬ 
mated dismounted fight near Boonsboro. The North 
Carolina losses in these cavalry operations, so far as 
reported, were, killed, 9; wounded, 79. There is no 
report from the First nor the Second regiment. 

In the cavalry fight at Funkstown, the North Carolina 
troops took part on the 16th of July, and Manly’s North 
Carolina battery was engaged nearly all day, losing sev¬ 
eral men. 

Pettigrew’s North Carolinians formed the rear guard 
when the Potomac was recrossed at Falling Waters on 
the 14th of July. There a portion of the Sixth Michigan 
cavalry regiment, not knowing in what force the Con¬ 
federates were present, charged the line. At the time of 
this charge Pettigrew’s men were resting, and many of 
them were asleep after their exhausting marches through 
the rain and mud. The small Federal force coming so 
boldly upon them was mistaken for Confederate cavalry, 
and allowed to come almost within the lines. They were, 
of course, quickly routed with severe loss, but, in the short 
struggle, Gen. J. J. Pettigrew, of North Carolina, was 
mortally wounded. “At the beginning of the melee, ’’ 
says Captain Graham, “General Pettigrew’s horse, fright¬ 
ened by the sudden and near discharge of musketry, 
plunged and threw his rider. Rising in great pain, for he 
was still suffering from his wound received at Seven 
Pines, and his arm was in a sling from his injury of the 
3d of July, Pettigrew beheld a Federal corporal near him 
in the act of firing on his men. Drawing his pistol, he 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


19? 


was approaching this soldier with a view of engaging in 
combat with him, when he fell to the ground, himself 
pierced with a pistol ball. ’ ’ * 

General Pettigrew graduated at the university of North 
Carolina with brilliant honors, cultivated his mind in 
America and Europe, and was easily one of the ablest 
men in his State. He commenced his career as the colo¬ 
nel of the Twelfth, afterward the Twenty-second, regi¬ 
ment. His attainments as a man and his success as a 
soldier won speedy recognition, and he was promoted to 
command a brigade. His career as brigadier-general 
showed his ample capacity for command. Few nobler 
men ever died for any cause. 

After the Confederate army crossed the Potomac, the 
corps of Longstreet and A. P. Hill were stationed near 
Culpeper Court House. General Ewell’s corps operated 
for awhile in the valley, then retired toward Madison 
Court House. On the ist of August the Federal cavalry, 
following him, crossed the Rappahannock at the station 
and at Kelly’s ford, and advanced toward Brandy Sta¬ 
tion. The progress of the enemy, says General Lee, was 
gallantly resisted by General Stuart with Hampton’s bri¬ 
gade, commanded by Col. L. S. Baker, who fell back 
gradually to our lines about two miles south of Brandy. 
Colonel Baker fought against great odds, and the engage¬ 
ment was most creditable to his efficiency and the bravery 
of his veteran troopers. Colonel Baker was severely 
wounded, losing an arm, and after he was wounded 
would probably have been captured but for the ever dar¬ 
ing Capt. W. H. H. Cowles, who shouted to the men, 
“Charge again and save our colonel.’’ For his gallant 
conduct in this campaign, Colonel Baker was promoted to 
a brigadier-generalship. 

In the fall of this year Col. James B. Gordon was also 
promoted and assigned to a brigade, made up of the First, 
Second, Fourth and Fifth North Carolina cavalry regi- 


* New Bern Memorial Address. 



198 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ments. “About the same time,” says Moore, “bold and 
fearless James Dearing succeeded Beverly Robertson in 
command of the Second North Carolina brigade. ” After 
this memorable campaign in the North, Lee’s army took 
position along the Rapidan. 

During the invasion of Pennsylvania, Gen. D. H. Hill, 
commanding the department of North Carolina, was tern- 
porarily assigned to the defenses around Richmond. The 
troops under his command took part in some minor 
engagements during this time. On the 26th of June, Col¬ 
onel Spear, with a cavalry force numbering 1,050 men, * 
moved from the White House to destroy the bridge over 
the South Anna river. The bridge was defended by 125 
men, commanded by Lieut.-Col. T. L. Hargrove, of the 
Forty-fourth North Carolina regiment. Colonel Spear 
says of Colonel Hargrove’s battle, “He held the bridge 
manfully for over an hour, when by a stratagem he found 
me in his rear and his entire force captured. ’ ’ Colonel 
Hargrove had 7 men killed and 13 wounded. 

An expedition under General Getty was sent by the 
Federals to destroy the bridges over the South Anna and 
tear up the railroads in that vicinity. At the point 
in danger, Cooke’s North Carolina brigade met the 
Federals and repulsed them successfully. General Cooke 
states in his official report: “The principal point of attack 
was the railroad bridge, where they were met by com¬ 
panies of Col. E. D. Hall’s and William MacRae’s regi¬ 
ments under Maj. A. C. McAlister, who repulsed them 
repeatedly in handsome style. Col. John A. Baker’s regi¬ 
ment [Third North Carolina cavalry] occupied the right 
of our line and behaved very well. ’ ’ 

A raiding party under Gen. E. E. Potter, in July, 
inflicted much damage on some of the towns in eastern 
North Carolina. At Rocky Mount this force destroyed 
the bridge over Tar river, and also mills, depots, 
factories, and large quantities of flour and 800 bales 


* Spear’s Report, Rebellion Records, XXVII, p. 796. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


199 


of cotton; at Tarboro some Confederate gunboats in 
process of construction were burned; at other places simi¬ 
lar damage was done. This party was frequently fired 
upon by local troops, especially Whitford’s battalion, and 
a loss of 32 men was entailed upon it. 

On the 28th of July, Gen. M. W. Ransom, with four 
companies and a section of artillery, routed, at Jackson, 
N. C., a cavalry force of 650 men under Colonel Spear. 


I 


CHAPTER XlT. 


DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON—NORTH CAROLINIANS IN 
MISSISSIPPI—THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA—EAST 
TENNESSEE CAMPAIGNING — NORTH CAROLINA 

CAVALRY IN VIRGINIA—INFANTRY ENGAGEMENTS 
AROUND RAPPAHANNOCK STATION—FIGHTS AT 
KELLY’S FORD, BRISTOE AND PAYNE’S FARM. 

N the 16th of July, Clingman’s brigade, consisting 



of the following North Carolina regiments, the 


Eighth, Colonel Shaw; the Thirty-first, Lieut. - 
Col. C. W. Knight; the Fifty-first, Colonel McKethan; 
the Sixty-first, Colonel Radcliffe, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Devane and Major Harding, was ordered to South Caro¬ 
lina to assist in the defense of Charleston harbor. The 
brigade arrived on the 13th, and was at once assigned to 
duty. The Fifty-first and Thirty-first became members 
of the garrison at Fort Wagner. The Eighth and Sixty- 
first went to James island. At Battery Wagner the gar¬ 
rison endured many hardships, suffering a constant can¬ 
nonade from land batteries and ironclads, and being 
exposed to an alert sharpshooter force at all hours. In 
addition, the water was bad, food insufficient, and the 
heat in the pits and bombproofs almost intolerable. 

“Battery Wagner was,” says Lieutenant McKethan, “a 
field work of sand, turf and palmetto logs, built across 
Morris island. From north to south it varied from 
twenty to seventy-five yards. Its bombproofs were capa¬ 
ble of holding from 800 to 1,000 men.” Its armament 
was far inferior in range to the guns of the Federals, and 
“so we had to submit to the hail of iron sent upon us by 
the superior and larger range guns, from sunrise to 
sunset. ’ ’ 


200 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 201 

At length came the 18th day of July, made memorable 
by a land and naval bombardment of unusual severity, 
lasting eleven hours, and followed by a well sustained land 
assault. The garrison, under command that day of Gen. 
W. B. Taliaferro, consisted of the Charleston battalion, 
assigned to the right of the defenses; the Fifty-first 
North Carolina, posted at the center; the Thirty-first 
North Carolina, commanded to hold the left of the work. 
The artillery, four companies, was commanded by Lieut. - 
Col. J. C. Simkins. 

The Federal land batteries numbered about forty guns 
and the ships added twenty more, making probably 
sixty-four guns of all sorts turned against the fort and its 
little garrison. General Seymour, of the Union army, 
says: “From about noon until nightfall the fort was 
subjected to such a weight of artillery as has probably 
never before been turned upon a single point. ’ ’ Lieu¬ 
tenant McKethan of the Fifty-first North Carolina gives 
the experience of his regiment inside the fort: “During 
the bombardment we had concentrated upon our little 
band forty-four guns and mortars from the land batter¬ 
ies, distant about 1,200 or 2,000 yards, and the heavy guns 
from the Ironsides, five monitors and five gunboats. . . . 
The sand was our only protection, but fortunately one shot 
would fill up the hole made by another, or we should soon 
have been annihilated. ’ ’ * 

Near dusk the artillery fire slackened and the land 
troops made ready for the assault. General Seymour com¬ 
manded the Federal division, made up of Strong’s, Put¬ 
nam’s and Stevenson’s brigades. General Strong’s bri¬ 
gade was in advance. His leading regiment was the Fifty- 
fourth Massachusetts, a negro regiment commanded by 
white officers. During the bombardment, the Confeder¬ 
ate troops had been partly protected in the bombproofs. 
They now, although the shelling was still murderous, 
sprang to their posts. Many of the guns of light weight 

* Regimental History. 

Nc 26 



202 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


had been withdrawn from the walls and covered with 
sandbags. They were, at sight of the infantry, run into 
the embrasures, and cleared for action. 

Shaw’s negro regiment of 600 men advanced at a double- 
quick, but broke at the ditch of Wagner under the with¬ 
ering fire of the Charleston battalion and the Fifty-first 
North Carolina, and, says Major Johnson, “rushed like a 
crowd of maniacs back to the rear. ’ ’ * Colonel Shaw was 
killed; and as his men, with a few brave exceptions, 
rushed back, they, General Seymour reported, “fell 
harshly upon those in their rear.” The other regiments 
of Strong’s brigade continued their forward movement, 
but fell in heaps before the riflemen of the two Carolinas. 
Two of General Strong’s regiments had be<m affected by 
the panic of the negro regiment, and soon the whole First 
brigade was routed. General Strong was mortally 
wounded. 

Meantime Putnam’s brigade, after some delay, was dar¬ 
ingly led by him against the left of the fort. This part 
of Wagner had been assigned to the Thirty-first North 
Carolina. That regiment, however, General Taliaferro 
states in his report, could not be induced to occupy its 
position, and hence Putnam, though exposed to a flank 
fire from the other troops, met no severe fire in his front. 
He and about a hundred or more of his most determined 
followers effected a lodgment, and for more than an 
hour held their place inside the fort, although their com¬ 
rades had been repulsed. General Taliaferro called for 
volunteers to dislodge Putnam. Maj. J. R. McDonald of 
the Fifty-first North Carolina, and Captain Ryan of the 
Charleston battalion, both offered their services. Ryan’s 
company was accepted, but failed. Whenever, however, 
any of Putnam’s men showed themselves, the Fifty-first 
North Carolina opened upon them. Colonel Putnam was 
killed, and his force—approached in rear by some Georgi¬ 
ans who, with General Hagood, had crossed over during 


* The Defense of Charleston Harbor, p. 104. 



CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


203 


the battle—-was captured. General Taliaferro makes this 
favorable report of the Fifty-first regiment: “Colonel 
McKethan’s regiment, the Fifty-first North Carolina 
troops, redeemed the reputation of the Thirty-first. 
They gallantly sought their position, under a heavy shell¬ 
ing, and maintained it during the action. Colonel 
McKethan, Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson and Major 
McDonald are the field officers of this regiment and 
deserve special mention.” The Confederate loss in this 
battle was only 181; the Federal, 1,515.* 

The two direct assaults upon Wagner having failed, the 
Federals determined to besiege it by regular approaches. 
Heavy Parrott guns and mortars were called into service, 
and from the 18th of July to the 6th of September, when 
it was evacuated, the troops serving in the fort had 
arduous duties. Ludgwig, in his Regimental History of 
the Eighth regiment describes the routine of duty there: 
“The nature of the service on Morris island was such as 
to render it necessary for the regiments composing the 
army on that side of Charleston to perform duty there 
alternately. While on the island the men were exposed 
at all times to the enemy’s fire, both from land and sea. 
An attack had to be prepared for at any instant, day or 
night. It was no place for rest. The battery, frequently 
shelled, had to be repaired. The enemy’s ever active 
sharpshooters had to be watched. To expose one’s self to 
view meant to be shot at with attending consequences. 
The men had to keep under cover of the battery or in 
sandpits near by. Under such circumstances it was 
necessary to relieve the men once about every seven or 
eight days. . . There was no place for cooking. All the 
rations had to be prepared and carried there. . . It was a 
veritable target practice between the sharpshooters every 
day, and any careless or reckless exposure meant work 
for the ambulance corps.” All of General Clingman’s 
regiments took their regular tours of duty at Wagner. 


* Official Reports, Rebellion Records. 



204 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


On the 28th of August, an infantry assault on the rifle- 
pits in front of Wagner was bravely met and repulsed by 
the two Confederate regiments there. General Taliaferro 
reports: “Soon after dark he advanced upon the rifle-pits 
in front of Wagner, but General Hagood’s forces were, 
fortunately, prepared to receive him. His mortar practice 
ceased and his infantry assaulted fiercely, but the position 
was held with courage and spirit, and success crowned the 
efforts of the brave men of the Sixty-first North Carolina 
and Fifty-fourth Georgia regiments, who constituted the 
advance pickets and reserve.” Circumstances in North 
Carolina were such that, in November, Clingman’s men 
gladly received orders to? leave the island and return to 
their native State. The brigade loss during its service 
in South Carolina was: killed, 76; wounded, 336. 

Three North Carolina regiments served under J. E. 
Johnston in Mississippi. These were the Twenty-ninth, 
Lieut.-Col. W. B. Creasman, the Thirty-ninth and the 
Sixtieth. On the Yazoo river, near Yazoo City, the 
Twenty-ninth had, on the 13th of July, an all-day skirmish 
with gunboats. In the same month, the Sixtieth regi¬ 
ment was engaged in actions of some severity before 
Jackson. These regiments were greater sufferers from 
the hardships of campaigning than they were from battle 
casualties, as it was their lot not to be engaged during 
this time in serious battle. 

The “Great Battle of the West” was fought near 
Chickamauga. There the Confederate army, under Gen¬ 
eral Bragg, gained, on the 19th and 20th of September, 
a great, but entirely barren victory. North Carolina was 
not largely represented in this bitterly-contested field. 
One corps commander, D. H. Hill, who had recently 
been appointed lieutenant-general and assigned to the 
command of the divisions of Breckinridge and Cleburne, 
and five regiments—four of infantry and one of cavalry 
—were the North Carolina participants in the two days of 
bloodshed. These five regiments were as follows: The 


4 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


205 


Twenty-ninth, Col. W. B. Creasman; the Thirty-ninth, 
Col. David Coleman; the Fifty-eighth, Col. J. B. Palmer; 
the Sixtieth, Lieut.-Col. J. M. Ray and Capt. J. T. 
Weaver, and the Sixth cavalry, Col. G. N. Folk. 

How nobly these five regiments upheld the honor of 
their State is so clearly set forth in a personal letter to 
the author from Col. C. A. Cilley, a Federal staff officer 
of the Second Minnesota regiment, that no further me¬ 
morial to their valor is needed. The testimony has the 
added value of coming from a generous foe who stoutly 
fought these regiments, and whose official position has 
since put him in possession of all the facts bearing upon 
the successes attained by the troops from different States. 
This position was that of member of the State commis¬ 
sion appointed to examine and decide, conjointly with 
and under direction of the National Park commission, 
upon the achievements of all the troops engaged, and to 
direct the erection of tablets to commemorate valiant 
exploits. Colonel Cilley’s letter is as follows: 

There were present at that battle the Sixth cavalry, the 
Twenty-ninth, Thirty-ninth, Fifty-eighth, and Sixtieth 
infantry. The fortunes of the day so ordered it that I 
was personally aware of the conduct of all save the Thir¬ 
ty-ninth regiment. As to that, the published reports, 
aided by the decision of the United States Park Commis¬ 
sion in a contest between the troops who claimed to have 
captured a number of cannon also claimed by the Thirty- 
ninth, must be the authority for whatsoever I say. 

On the meeting of our State commission at the battle¬ 
field, October 25, 1893, we went over all available maps 
and reports of the action and the territory with the two 
members of the National commission then present, viz: 
Lieutenant-General Stewart, late of the Confederate 
States army, and Brevet Brigadier-General Boynton, late 
Thirty-fifth Ohio. In marking, the next day, the loca¬ 
tion occupied by the North Carolina troops, we had their 
full concurrence and approval. 

As soon as General Bragg discovered that Rosecrans 
had gained the main road from Lafayette to Chattanooga, 


206 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and was marching up the same toward the town he had 
just been maneuvered out of, he sent Forrest, followed 
up by infantry under Ector, to dislodge us. To meet 
this attack, General Thomas detached Vanderveer’s 
brigade of his old division, in which General Boynton 
commanded a brigade, and on the staff of which I was 
serving—my regiment, the Second Minnesota, being in the 
command. So two of the party which traversed the field 
and marked the points reached by the North Carolina 
troops had met them in actual conflict. It was agreed 
that the Sixth cavalry gained an honorable position on 
the right of the Confederate line, closely followed by the 
Twenty-ninth infantry, who fought over substantially 
the same ground. 

Col. David Coleman, of the Thirty-ninth infantry, who 
assumed command of McNair’s brigade after that officer 
was wounded on Sunday evening, reported that his regi¬ 
ment charged and captured a massed collection of nine 
cannon in Dyer’s field, during what was known as the 
“great break” through the Federal lines, late on Sunday. 
Other commanders, after the battle, put in a claim to this 
capture, and asked the National commission to so credit 
them on the memorial to be erected. We carefully col¬ 
lated all evidence on both sides, and at last General 
Stewart directed us to put up a tablet setting forth the 
exploit as Colonel Coleman reported it. This was the 
only case in which both General Boynton and myself 
were not personally cognizant of each achievement of 
North Carolina troops as set forth in the tablet erected. 

Next in order of time was the attack by Breckinridge 
(of Hill’s corps) upon the right. Brannan’s division of 
Thomas’ corps had made a lodgment on the road to 
Chattanooga at Kelly’s field, when Breckinridge, who 
had attained a position on the road between Brannan 
and Chattanooga, charged with Stovall’s brigade, in 
which was the Sixtieth North Carolina infantry. Two 
of our number were in the brigade which received that 
attack, and had good reason for remembering it. Again 
reports and maps were brought out, and one of the party 
paced the distance. General Stewart collated the evi¬ 
dence and announced the decision. By his direction, an 
oaken tablet, suitably inscribed, was put up on the side of 
the State road, marking the spot where at noon on Sun¬ 
day, September 20,1863, the Sixtieth regiment reached the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


207 


farthest point within the Federal lines attained by any 
Southern troops in that famous charge. 

Fourth and last. It remained only to ascertain the 
facts as to the conduct of the Fifty-eighth North Carolina 
infantry, a regiment until that battle never under fire. 
We followed its course from where it entered the field to 
the scene of its splendid achievement on Snodgrass hill. 
Three of our State commissioners were survivors of that 
regiment, and, under their guidance, we easily traced the 
path from its first service, supporting batteries, across the 
field just traversed by the Thirty-ninth, to the place 
where, about the middle of the afternoon, this command, 
hitherto unused to hostile shot, plunged into the bloodiest 
struggle of the battle, and one of the deadliest conflicts 
of the war. There it was, at the base and up the slopes 
to the crest of the wooded hill, up which Longstreet had 
hurled six divisions in an attempt to drive Thomas to 
retreat, and so secure the coveted State road. 

The slopes up which it toiled, the ravines in which it 
fought, were again trodden by some of its old officers, 
while General Boynton and myself identified the place 
on the crest where the lines met. After the fullest ex¬ 
amination, a tablet, stating that that was the point where 
the topmost wave of Southern battle broke nearer than 
any other to the lines of Thomas’ defense, was erected in 
honor and in the name of the Fifty-eighth North Carolina. 
Singularly enough, this was close to the place selected 
by the Second Minnesota volunteers for its monument. 
Both of these regiments lost one-half of their number in 
killed and wounded, a percentage reached, so far as I am 
aware, by no other body of troops in that engagement. 

The affair of Snodgrass hill presents one of the most 
desperate attacks and one of the most stubborn defenses 
of the entire war. Other States which had soldiers there 
have spent money in the erection of suitable monuments 
to the valor of their sons. As I personally took word to 
General Thomas on two or three occasions that the men 
who held our line were out of cartridges, and took back 
orders from him for them to repel assaults with the bay¬ 
onet, I know that the men of the Fifty-eighth had this 
most dreaded of weapons to confront, and I am sure no 
troops made a more distinguished record for heroism than 
they. 


208 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


In this battle, the Fifty-eighth lost nearly one-half of its 
effective strength. The Thirty-ninth lost 14 killed and 
86 wounded; the Sixtieth, 8 killed and 36 wounded. 

In the East Tennessee campaign, the Sixty-second, 
Sixty-fourth and Sixty-ninth (Thomas’ legion) were en¬ 
gaged in the mountain fights in the summer and fall of 
1863. Part of the time, Gen. Robert Ransom oper¬ 
ated in some of the same territory. Gen. A. E. Jackson 
with Walker’s battalion, portions of the Sixty-ninth 
North Carolina, and other troops, including artillery, 
routed and captured a Federal force, commanded by 
Colonel Hayes of the One Hundredth Ohio regiment, at 
Limestone bridge. After a reconnoissance made by 
Maj. W. W. Stringfield, General Jackson ordered an 
assault upon the blockhouse and brick buildings occu¬ 
pied by the Federals. Lieut.-Col. M. A. Haynes says in 
his official report: “With a shout and a hurrah for the 
‘Bonnie Blue Flag,’ the North Carolina boys made the 
charge, and the enemy fled before them, as you and the 
general well know. ’ ’ The artillery and the infantry 
joining in a general attack, 314 prisoners surrendered 
and many were killed and wounded. The North Caro¬ 
lina loss was 6 killed and 15 wounded. Shortly after¬ 
ward the Sixty-ninth regiment encountered a large cav¬ 
alry force under Foster. This cavalry had been sent 
to intercept the Confederate retreat toward Virginia. 
Colonel Love gallantly charged this force, and General 
Williams coming to his aid, drove it from his front. 

North Carolina cavalry were active in many of the en¬ 
gagements during the fall campaign in Virginia. At 
Jack’s shop, near Liberty mills, Orange county, Va., 
on September 22, 1863, Hampton’s division of cav¬ 
alry joined battle with Davies’ and Custer’s brigades of 
Kilpatrick’s cavalry division. Custer’s brigade was 
commanded by Colonel Stagg. Hampton’s division was 
composed of three brigades: Butler’s, commanded by 
Col. J. B. Gordon of the First North Carolina; Jones' 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


209 


brigade, and Baker’s North Carolina brigade (afterward 
Gordon’s), commanded by Colonel Ferebee of the Fourth 
North Carolina. This brigade included these regiments: 
The First, Second, Fourth and Fifth. 

As the Confederates moved up the Madison pike 
toward Gordonsville, the First North Carolina regiment 
in advance encountered Davies’ dismounted skirmishers 
posted in some pines. Lieutenant Foard, of the advance 
guard, bravely charged in to ascertain the forces of the 
enemy, and, on his report, the First regiment was soon 
dismounted, and sharpshooters from every company en¬ 
gaged, Major Cheek commanding in front. The fire from 
the Federal sharpshooters was very accurate, and Capt. 
A. B. Andrews, while gallantly performing his duty, 
was shot through the body, and many others were shot 
down. The action then became more general. Colonel 
Ferebee, with a mixed force, charged through the line 
of Federals moving to the Confederate rear, and the 
Federals began to draw off. Soon, however, their lines 
were re-established and their artillery opened. General 
Stuart then ordered a general charge, and the Federal 
force was driven off the field, and Colonel Stagg’s rear 
cut off and captured. 

Gordon’s cavalry brigade attacked, near James City, 
on the ioth, the front of a cavalry force while General 
Stuart led Young’s brigade to make a flank attack. The 
Federals were driven into James City, but Stuart found 
the cavalry and infantry there too strong for his force, 
and he made no attack. 

On the nth of October, the Fourth North Carolina 
cavalry dispersed a cavalry force at Culpeper Court 
House. In this charge, Colonel Ferebee and Adjutant 
Morehead of the Fifth were wounded, and Lieutenants 
Baker of the Second and Benton of the Fourth were 
killed. On the same day, Gen. W. H. F. Lee with his 
cavalry force and Johnston’s North Carolina brigade, 
commanded by Colonel Garrett of the Fifth regiment, 

Nc 27 


210 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


opposed the crossing of Buford’s cavalry division at 
Morton’s and Raccoon fords. The brigades of Buford 
that had crossed over were driven back. The Fifth, 
Twenty-third and five companies of the Twelfth regi¬ 
ment, under Colonel Garrett, crossed at Raccoon ford, 
and the Twentieth and five companies of the Twelfth 
crossed at Morton’s ford, and followed the Federals to 
Stevensburg. These regiments succeeded in forcing the 
enemy to retire. The loss in the brigade was 4 killed 
and 38 wounded. 

At Brandy Station, General Gordon reports: “Near 
Bradford’s house I sent the First North Carolina cavalry 
to attack the enemy in rear while we were moving 
on his flank. That command captured and killed 60 of 
the enemy. Near Mr. Bott’s house, the Fourth and 
Fifth were charged in flank by the Eighteenth Pennsyl¬ 
vania cavalry, and broke in considerable confusion. The 
brigade took no further active [part in the] operations 
during the day. ’ ’ 

While making a reconnoissance toward Catlett’s Sta¬ 
tion on the night of the 13th, General Stuart suddenly 
found himself and command enveloped by a marching 
corps of Federal infantry. His situation was extremely 
critical, and a less resourceful commander would most 
probably have been captured. He, however, concealed 
his men in a body of woods so near the Federals that 
he could hear their conversation. His troops having 
“unbounded confidence in the resources of the major- 
general commanding, remained quiet and determined 
during the night. ”* A few bold men ran the gauntlet of 
the Federal lines to take word to General Lee of the per¬ 
ilous situation of his cavalry. At dawn a dense fog pre¬ 
vented a disclosure of Stuart’s presence. “An army 
corps,’’ reports that officer, “halted on a hill just oppo¬ 
site to us, stacked arms, and went to making coffee. 
This operation had considerably progressed when a sharp 


* Gordon’s Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


211 


volley of musketry was heard on the Warrenton road. I 
waited until it appeared more general, when, believing 
that it was our attack in earnest, I opened seven guns 
upon the enemy and rained a storm of canister and shell 
upon the masses of men, muskets and coffee-pots. 
Strange to say, the fire of our infantry ceased as soon as I 
opened, and I soon found myself maintaining an unequal 
contest with an army corps. ’ ’ The Federal batteries on 
the hill were turned on Stuart, and he ordered Gordon’s 
brigade to cover his left flank. Unflinchingly the North 
Carolinians carried out the order. During this action, 
Gordon saw that a Federal regiment was about to reach 
the road of the retreating line, and ordered the First 
North Carolina cavalry to charge it. Though the First 
was small in number, Col. Thomas Ruffin, commanding 
it, led a dashing charge on the Federal bayonets and held 
the regiment back from the road. Colonel Ruffin, 
whom General Stuart described as a “model of worth, 
devotion and heroism,’’ lost his life in the attack. Gen¬ 
eral Gordon and Major Barringer were both wounded, but 
continued on duty. Sheer hard fighting alone extricated 
Stuart. 

General Lee crossed the Rapidan early in October and 
moved toward Culpeper Court House, “with a view of 
bringing on an engagement with the Federal army.”* 
General Meade, however, retreated before Lee, and the 
Confederate army moved on toward Bristoe Station. 
Gen. A. P. Hill’s corps reached that point first, and, on 
the 14th, brought on an engagement with Warren’s Sec¬ 
ond corps. This was almost entirely, on the Confederate 
side, a North Carolina battle; for the two brigades that 
did nearly all the fighting were both from that State. 

Just before reaching Bristoe, General Heth, command¬ 
ing the advance division, was ordered to form line of battle 
on the road from Greenwich. Accordingly Cooke’s North 
Carolina brigade was formed on the right of the road; 


* Lee’s Report. 



212 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Kirkland’s brigade, also North Carolinians, was formed 
to Cooke’s left, and Walker’s brigade was directed to move 
to Kirkland’s left; but Cooke and Kirkland, having formed, 
were ordered forward before Walker could reach his post. 
Davis was held in reserve. A Federal force was soon 
discovered in Kirkland’s front, but one of Poague’s bat¬ 
teries caused it to retire, and General Heth was ordered 
to cross Broad run to follow up Poague’s success. It 
was not known to the Confederate commander that the 
Federals were in force across the run; for their lines were 
marching parallel to a railroad that concealed them from 
sight. Cooke and Kirkland advanced, and no opportu¬ 
nity offered Walker to form on line with them. They 
encountered General Warren’s Second corps drawn up 
along a line of railroad. 

The Federal forces that these two brigades were or¬ 
dered to attack were posted in a low cut almost perfectly 
sheltering the men, and behind an embankment forming 
equally good protection. Hays’ division, consisting of 
the brigades of Smyth, Carroll and Owen, held the center. 
On his right was Webb’s division, made up of Heath’s and 
Mallon’s brigades—Baxter not being present. Cald¬ 
well’s division was on Hays’ left, but the Confederate 
front was not long enough to reach his position, and only 
his skirmishers were engaged. Miles’ brigade of Cald¬ 
well’s division was supporting the artillery. The Fed¬ 
eral brigades most severely engaged were those of Heath, 
Mallon and Owen. 

Against these two divisions the two North Carolina 
brigades, under the protest of General Cooke, gallantly 
advanced. General Heth says of the Federal position: 
“On seeing our advance, the enemy formed his line in 
rear of the railroad embankment, his right resting on 
Broad, run and hidden by a railroad cut. In his rear, a 
line of hills ascended to some 30 or 40 feet in height, giv¬ 
ing him an admirable position for his artillery. The rail¬ 
road cut and embankment gave him perfect protection 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


213 


for his infantry. ’ ’ Two batteries of Ricketts—Brown 
and Arnold—occupied these advantageous positions and 
swept the slope down which the Confederates had to 
advance. 

As General Cooke marched to the attack, his Carolina 
regiments were drawn up as follows: The Forty-sixth, 
Colonel Hall, on the right; the Fifteenth, Col. William 
MacRae, next; the Twenty-seventh, Colonel Gilmer, next, 
and on the left, the Forty-eighth, Colonel Walkup. Gen¬ 
eral Kirkland’s North Carolinians were on Cooke’s left in 
this order: The Eleventh, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, and 
the Fifty-second, Lieut.-Col. B. F. Little, were on the left; 
the Twenty-sixth, Colonel Lane, the Forty-fourth, Colo¬ 
nel Singeltary, and the Forty-seventh, Colonel Faribault, 
on the right. 

Cooke’s men, on the right, stepped to the front with 
boldness and began the descent of the slope. Then for 
the first time they saw the enemy’s real line of battle; 
but their orders were to break it if possible. The batter¬ 
ies speedily got their range and the infantry fire was 
incessant. “As they fired up the hill,” says Capt. J. A. 
Graham, “every one of their shots told.” Almost at 
the first volley, General Cooke and Colonel Gilmer were 
seriously wounded. Col. E. D. Hall succeeded to the 
command of the brigade. Colonel Hall, seeing how rap¬ 
idly his command was falling, rushed to the center and 
ordered the firing to cease and a charge to be made. 
The Twenty-seventh led off, followed by the other regi¬ 
ments. “The point from which we started the charge,” 
says Graham, “was distinctly marked; in some cases 
ten men from each company lying dead or wounded on 
that line.”* When these determined men reached 
within forty yards of the railroad, the Federals rose and 
delivered a volley that so thinned the shattered ranks 
that an order to fall back was given. In their exposed 
condition, to fall back was almost as dangerous as to 


* Regimental History. 



214 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

proceed. Col. William MacRae’s thoughtful bravery, 
however, prevented much loss of life. He ordered his 
regiment to fall back by companies, and so poured a con¬ 
tinuous return fire upon the hottest of the Federal front 
fire. Cooke lost 526 men* in this action, which lasted 
only about forty minutes. The Twenty-seventh regi¬ 
ment, which, says Colonel Hall, went further than any 
other of his regiments, lost 204 out of 426 taken into 
action. 

Kirkland’s brigade was not called upon to endure so 
heavy a loss as Cooke’s, for a pine field protected in part 
his advance, but his officers and men behaved with 
equal gallantry. His men fought their way into the rail¬ 
road cut on the left of his line. The Eleventh and Fifty- 
second drove the Federals out of the cut and occupied it 
themselves. But they were exposed to a flank fire from 
infantry and an enfilade fire from artillery, and reluc¬ 
tantly gave up their advantage. General Kirkland was 
wounded, Colonel Martin was several times wounded, 
and a loss of 270 inflicted upon the brigade. 

General Warren in his official report bears testimony to 
the fearlessness of the North Carolina men in their 
attacks. He reports, “theenemy’s line of battle boldly 
moving forward, one part of our own steadily awaiting it 
and another moving against it at double-quick. . . . The 
enemy was gallantly led, as the wounding of three [two] 
of his general officers in this attack shows, and even in 
retiring many retired but sullenly. ’ ’ 

Why these two brigades were left to fight an entirely 
unsupported battle against such odds seems never to 
have been explained. The total Confederate loss around 
Bristoe was 1,381. The total North Carolina loss, as 
shown by the official reports, was 912. This was divided 
as follows: killed, 133; wounded, 779. 

A cavalry engagement, jocularly denominated by the 
Confederate troopers, “the Buckland Races,’’ occurred on 


*Official Returns, Army Northern Virginia. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


215 


the 18th. General Stuart, who was in front of Kilpat¬ 
rick’s division, received a note from General Fitzhugh 
Lee stating that he was moving to join his commander, 
and suggesting that Stuart with Hampton’s division 
should retire in the direction of Warrenton, drawing the 
enemy after him. This being done, Lee was to come in 
from Auburn and attack in flank and rear while Stuart 
attacked in front. General Stuart’s report tells the 
sequel: “This plan proved highly successful. Kilpat¬ 
rick followed me cautiously until I reached the point in 
question, when the sound of artillery toward Buckland 
indicating that Major-General Lee had arrived and com¬ 
menced the attack, I pressed upon them suddenly and 
vigorously in front, with Gordon [North Carolina bri¬ 
gade] in the center and Young and Rosser on his flanks. 
The enemy at first offered a stubborn resistance, but the 
charge was made with such impetuosity, the First North 
Carolina gallantly leading, that the enemy broke and the 
rout was soon complete. I pursued them from within three 
miles of Warrenton to Buckland, the horses going at full 
speed the whole distance. ’ ’ General Stuart quotes from 
a Northern writer, who speaks of Kilpatrick’s retreat as 
“the deplorable spectacle of the cavalry dashing hatless 
and panic-stricken through the ranks of the infantry. 

In the operations around Rappahannock Station, 
Hays’ brigade occupied a tete-de-pont on the enemy’s 
side of the Rappahannock. Hoke’s brigade, now com¬ 
manded during General Hoke’s absence, from a severe 
wound, by Col. A. C. Godwin, was ordered to cross the 
river to reinforce Hays. There, on the 7th of Novem¬ 
ber, these two brigades were completely surrounded by 
the Federal First and Second corps, and a large part of 
them forced to surrender in spite of the efforts of Hays 
and of Godwin, a splendid officer, to extricate them. Gen¬ 
eral Early thus speaks of this unfortunate affair: ‘‘ Hoke’s 
brigade had not at this time been captured, but they 
were hopelessly cut off from the bridge without any 


216 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


means of escape and with no chance of being reinforced; 
and while making preparations to defend the bridge and 
prevent an increase of the disaster, I had the mortifi¬ 
cation to hear the final struggle of these devoted men, 
and to be made painfully aware of their capture without 
the possibility of being able to go to their relief. ’ ’ Eight 
hundred and forty-seven men of this brigade were thus 
made prisoners. Capt. Joseph Graham’s North Carolina 
battery, posted on the Confederate side of the river, 
made continuous efforts to direct a successful fire upon 
the assailants of its comrades across the river. 

On this same date, the Federals succeeded in crossing 
the Rappahannock at Kelly’s ford notwithstanding the 
efforts of Rodes’ division, which was guarding several 
fords along the river, to prevent it. The troops most 
actively engaged at Kelly’s ford were the Second North 
Carolina, commanded at the opening of the affair by 
Colonel Cox, then, upon that officer’s being wounded, 
by Lieutenant-Colonel Stallings, and the Thirtieth 
North Carolina, Lieutenant-Colonel Sillers commanding. 
Colonel Sillers also received a terrible wound. The North 
Carolina losses in these engagements were: killed, 6; 
wounded, 109. 

The most serious infantry engagement during the No¬ 
vember movements was at Payne’s farm, or Bartlett’s 
mill, on the 27th. The Federals unexpectedly attacked 
Johnson’s division. The main attack fell on Steuart’s 
and Walker’s brigades. Here again, as at Bristoe, the 
heaviest losses fell on North Carolina troops. The Third 
North Carolina, Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, sustained the 
heaviest loss in the division—72 men. The First North 
Carolina, Colonel Thruston, suffered next in casualties. 
His regiment and the Fourth Virginia each lost 55 men. 
The brigades of Hoke, Daniel and Ramseur were several 
times under fire, but not seriously engaged. The total 
North Carolina casualties in the infantry were: killed, 
17; wounded, 138. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


217 


Gordon’s cavalry brigade had a skirmish at New Hope 
church, and took part in a sharp action at Parker’s store. 
The Second North Carolina and a portion of the Fifth, 
all under command of Captain Reese, made a successful 
dismounted attack on the Federal skirmishers. In this 
affair, Captain Reese and Lieutenant Copeland were 
killed. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


NORTH CAROLINA EVENTS, 1863-64—FEDERAL TREAT¬ 
MENT OF THE EASTERN PART OF THE STATE- 
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN THE STATE—RANSOM 
RECOVERS SUFFOLK—VICTORY OF HOKE AND COOKE 
AT PLYMOUTH—GALLANT FIGHTING OF THE AL¬ 
BEMARLE—SPRING CAMPAIGN, 1864, IN VIRGINIA. 

HERE were no large military operations in North 



Carolina contemporaneous with the Bristoe and 


1 Mine Run campaigns. Frequent expeditions 
were sent out from New Bern by the Federals. These 
were frequently fired upon by the militia, but, as the local 
troops were not regularly organized, the expeditions gen¬ 
erally came and went without much molestation. Whit- 
ford’s battalion was often active and useful in deterring 
such raids. On December 30th, near Greenville, there 
was a brisk skirmish between Colonel McChesney, com¬ 
manding a Federal cavalry and artillery force, and Major 
Moore, with some companies of the Third North Carolina 
cavalry. 

The close of 1863 was gloomy enough in eastern North 
Carolina. Moore thus describes it: “The condition of 
eastern North Carolina grew hourly more deplorable. 
Frequent incursions of the enemy resulted in the destruc¬ 
tion of property of all kinds. Especially were horses and 
mules objects of plunder. Pianos and other costly furni¬ 
ture were seized and sent North, while whole regiments 
of ‘bummers’ wantonly defaced and ruined the fairest 
homesteads in eager search for hidden treasures. The 
‘Buffaloes,’ in gangs of a dozen men, infested the 
swamps and made night hideous with their horrid visita¬ 
tions. They and their colored coadjutors, by all manner 


218 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


219 


of inducements, enticed from the farms such of the 
negro men as were fitted for military duty. ... To the 
infinite and undying credit of the colored race, though 
the woods swarmed with negro men sent back on detailed 
duty for the purpose of enlisting their comrades in the 
Federal army, there were less acts of violence toward the 
helpless old men, women and children than could have 
been possibly expected under the circumstances.” 

In an effort to alleviate this state of affairs, a force of 
some magnitude was sent to North Carolina at the open¬ 
ing of 1864. Gen. George E. Pickett, with a division of 
troops, was sent to the State to co-operate with the forces 
already there. The dispersion or capture of the Federal 
garrison at New Bern seems to have been Pickett’s 
objective. General Pickett had in his command Corse’s 
Virginia brigade; Gen. M. W. Ransom’s brigade, com¬ 
posed of these North Carolina regiments: Twenty-fourth, 
Colonel Clarke; Twenty-fifth, Colonel Rutledge; Thirty- 
fifth, Colonel Jones; Forty-ninth, Colonel McAfee, and 
Fifty-sixth, Colonel Faison; Clingman’s North Carolina 
brigade—the Eighth, Colonel Shaw; Thirty-first, Colonel 
Jordan; Fifty-first, Colonel McKethan, and Sixty-first, Col¬ 
onel Rad cliff e; Hoke’s Carolina brigade—Sixth, Colonel 
Webb; Twenty-first, Colonel Rankin; Forty-third, Lieu¬ 
tenant-Colonel Lewis; Fifty-fourth, Colonel Murchison; 
Fifty-seventh, Colonel Godwin, and Twenty-first Georgia. 
In addition, he had four unbrigaded regiments, including 
the Sixty-seventh North Carolina, Colonel Whitford, and 
five regiments of cavalry, including the Third North Caro¬ 
lina, Colonel Baker, and the Sixth, Colonel Folk. The artil¬ 
lery under Pickett’s orders consisted of the Tenth North 
Carolina regiment, Colonel Pool’s command, Starr’s 
light artillery battalion, Robertson’s heavy battery, all 
of North Carolina, and several batteries from other States. 
The field returns for February give his total effective 
strength as 13,308.* 


* Rebellion Records, XXXIII, p. 1201. 



220 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


In addition, General Whiting at Wilmington had 6,690 
men. Whiting’s infantry was largely made up of General 
Martin’s brigade—the Seventeenth North Carolina, Col¬ 
onel Martin; Forty-second North Carolina, Colonel 
Brown; Fiftieth North Carolina, Colonel Wortham; Six¬ 
ty-sixth, Colonel Moore. He had 2,326 heavy artillery¬ 
men, 374 light artillerymen, and about 500 cavalrymen. 
The total force then stationed in the State was 19,998. 

Acting under General Lee’s orders, General Pickett, on 
the 20th of January, set three columns in motion from 
Kinston to attack New Bern. General Barton with his 
own brigade, Kemper’s brigade, part of Ransom’s bri¬ 
gade, twelve pieces of artillery, and twelve companies of 
cavalry, was directed to cross the Trent and take the 
works of New Bern in reverse, and to prevent rein¬ 
forcements reaching the town. Colonel Dearing was sent 
with a cavalry force to attack Fort Anderson, Barrington’s 
ferry. General Pickett, with Hoke’s brigade, three regi¬ 
ments of Corse’s brigade, the Eighth and Fifty-first regi¬ 
ments of Clingman’s brigade, and ten pieces of artillery, 
advanced on New Bern by the Dover road. 

General Pickett, in his official report, states his plan of 
operations as follows: “Barton with his cavalry was to 
have cut the railroad and cross Brice’s creek, taking the 
forts on the banks of the Neuse, and pass across the rail¬ 
road bridge; effectually, should he only succeed in the 
first, cutting off reinforcements. Dearing, by taking 
Fort Anderson, would have a direct fire on the town and 
an enfilading fire on the works in front of it. Commander 
Wood, having secured the gunboats, would co-operate, 
and I, with the party under my command, create a diver¬ 
sion, draw off the enemy, and if the chance offered, go in 
the town,’* 

Following out this plan, General Hoke, after a brisk 
skirmish on Monday, February 1st, drove in the enemy’s 
outpost at Batchelder’s creek. The brigade of Hoke, 
three regiments of Corse, and two of Clingman, crossed 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


221 


the creek and advanced toward the town. The batteries 
from the Federal works opened upon them, but no assault 
was ordered. General Pickett reports: “There was un¬ 
fortunately no co-operation, the other parties having failed 
to attack, and I found we were making the fight single- 
handed.’’ General Barton reported that he could not 
cross Brice’s creek to carry out his part of the plan. Gen¬ 
eral Pickett waited one day for him and then retired his 
forces, and the expedition from which North Carolinians 
had hoped much, came to an unsuccessful close. In the 
engagement at Batchelder’s creek, Col. H. M. Shaw, of 
the Eighth North Carolina regiment, was killed. Gen¬ 
eral Clingman said of him that he was “equally remark¬ 
able for his attention to all the duties of his position, and 
his courage on the field. ’ ’ The Confederate loss here 
was about 45 killed and wounded. 

Col. J. Taylor Wood, who was assigned the duty of 
attacking the gunboats, was more successful. Colonel 
Wood had six picked crews of fifteen men each from ships 
about Wilmington, Richmond and Charleston. They 
dropped down the river from Kinston in the darkness, 
and with rifles and cutlasses assaulted and boarded the 
gunboat Underwriter, lying just under the guns of the 
forts. The men under Wood were exposed to a hot fire 
on approaching the boat, and, after boarding, they became 
at once engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand cutlass and 
pistol fight with the Underwriter’s crew. Wood finally 
captured the vessel, but had to burn it. Few more dar¬ 
ing deeds than this were done during the war. 

On the 28th of January, Gen. J. G. Martin, commanding 
the Forty-second regiment, Col. J. E. Brown; the Seven¬ 
teenth regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Lamb; a cavalry 
force under Colonel Jackson and Lieutenant-Colonel Jef¬ 
fords, four pieces of the Ellis battery of Moore’s battal¬ 
ion (accompanied by the major), and Paris’ battery, set 
out from Wilmington to attack the garrison at Newport 
barracks, near Shepherdsville. That post was defended 


m 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


by the Ninth Vermont regiment, a Massachusetts heavy 
battery, and two companies of cavalry. 

On the 2d of February, General Martin made the attack 
successfully and captured the barracks, several guns, 70 
or 80 prisoners, and many stores. This whole affair was 
well managed and well fought. Martin lost 7 men killed 
and 14 wounded. 

Gen. M. W. Ransom, on the 9th of March, at the head 
of his brigade and a cavalry force, drove the Federals 
from Suffolk, capturing a piece of artillery and quarter¬ 
master stores of much value. Judge Roulhac says in his 
Regimental History: “This was a most exciting little 
affair, in which our troops met negro soldiers for the first 
time. Quick work was made of their line of battle, and 
their retreat was soon converted into a runaway. . . . 
The firing of our artillery was excellent, every shot tak¬ 
ing effect upon the fleeing ebony horsemen. At a swift 
run by sections, Branch’s artillery kept shot and shell in 
their midst as long as the fleeing cavalry could be 
reached. ’ ’ 

The next important event in North Carolina was Gen. 
R. F. Hoke’s capture of the town of Plymouth. This 
town had been very strongly fortified, especially on the 
land side. Forts Williams, Gray, Amory, Battery Worth 
and other defenses made an attack quite a formidable 
matter. It was held by Gen. H. W. Wessells, command¬ 
ing a garrison of 2,834 men. General Hoke, who had 
been selected to lead this important expedition because 
the President knew “his energy and activity,’’ designed 
attacking Plymouth, and wished naval assistance. He 
rode up the river to inquire of Commander Cooke, who 
was building an ironclad at Edward’s ferry on the 
Roanoke, when he could get the co-operation of the boat. 
At the first interview, Cooke said that it would be impos¬ 
sible for him to have the boat ready by the time suggested 
by General Hoke. But when General Hoke explained 
that he wanted to attack Plymouth, and that it was neces- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


223 


sary to have the co-operation of his boat, the brave 
Cooke’s fighting spirit rose, and he promised to take his 
boat to Plymouth, finished or unfinished, and General 
Hoke left him with that assurance. On the day set 
by General Hoke, Commander Cooke, true to his 
promise, started down the river, finishing his work 
and drilling his men in gun practice as he went. 
Mafhtt says: “At early dawn on the 18th, steam was up; 
ten portable forges, with numerous sledge hammers, were 
placed on board, and thus equipped the never-failing 
Cooke started. Naval history affords no such remarkable 
evidence of patriotic zeal and individual perseverance. ’ ’ * 
This tribute to Cooke is a just one. No boat could have 
been built under more difficulties than was the Albe¬ 
marle, as Cooke named his new venture, and its construc¬ 
tion shows the difficulties under which the Confederates 
waged a long war. It was designed by Gilbert Elliott. 
The prow, which was used as a ram, was of oak sheathed 
with iron; its back was turtle-shaped and protected by 
2-inch iron. Cooke had ransacked the whole country 
for iron, until, says Mafhtt, he was known as the “Iron¬ 
monger captain.” “The entire construction,” continues 
Mafhtt, “was one of shreds and patches; the engine was 
adapted from incongruous material, ingeniously dove¬ 
tailed and put together with a determined will that mas¬ 
tered doubt, but not without some natural anxiety as to 
derangements that might occur from so heterogeneous a 
combination. The Albemarle was built in an open corn- 
held, of unseasoned timber. A simple blacksmith shop 
aided the mechanical part of her construction. ” 

Notwithstanding the difficulties of her construction, the 
vessel was, when hnished, a formidable hghting machine. 
In the early hours of the 19th of April, she dropped down 
the river and passed the fort at Warren’s neck, under a 
furious hre. The protection from the shield was so com¬ 
plete that the shot from the guns at Warren sounded to 


* Reminiscences of Confederate Navy. 



224 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


those on board, says Elliott, “no louder than pebbles 
against a barrel.” In the rear of Fort Williams, the 
Albemarle saw two Federal gunboats lashed together. 
These were the Southfield and the Miami, under the bril¬ 
liant C. W. Flusser. Immediately the Albemarle dashed 
nine feet of her prow into the Southfield, delivering at 
the same time a broadside into the Miami, killing and 
wounding many of her crew. Flusser was killed, and in 
ten minutes the Southfield was at the bottom of the 
river, the prow of the ram still clinging to her, and excit¬ 
ing for a few moments serious apprehensions for the 
safety of the Albemarle. The vessel soon worked herself 
free and followed the other retreating gunboats. 

Maffitt thinks that this “brilliant naval success insured 
the triumph of General Hoke,” for it gave him, on the 
water side, a vulnerable point of attack. General Hoke 
had invested the town with his own brigade, the bri¬ 
gade of Ransom, and one of Pickett’s under Terry. 
When Cooke returned, his ship opened fire with its two 
guns upon Fort Williams, the citadel of Plymouth. 
General Hoke moved General Ransom’s brigade around 
to attack from the river side. Ransom’s men gallantly 
stormed the works, meeting not only the usual artillery 
and infantry fire, but encountering hand-grenades thrown 
from the works. On all sides the Confederate forces 
closed in, and, after a struggle in which both sides fought 
as only seasoned soldiers are apt to fight, the town with 
its garrison of nearly 3,000 men and 25 pieces of artillery 
was surrendered. The Confederate Congress passed a 
vote of thanks to General Hoke and Commander James 
W. Cooke and the officers and men under their command, 
“for the brilliant victory over the enemy at Plymouth.” 
This gallant deed awakened great enthusiasm in the 
State, for it was now hoped that North Carolina might be 
cleared of invaders. 

A few days later, the ram Albemarle, accompanied by 
the little transport Cotton Plant, and the captured gun- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


225 


boat Bombshell, came down the river and met the vessels 
searching for her. These were the “double-enders” 
Mattabesett, Sassacus, Wyalusing, Miami, and the 
smaller ships Whitehead, Ceres, Commodore Hull and 
Seymour. The Miami was armed with a torpedo and 
watched carefully for an opportunity to explode it. These 
steamers circled around the Albemarle, firing, and then 
circling until again opposite the ram, and ready for a 
second broadside. This plan of battle was carried into 
effect, but the heavy shot rattled off from the sloping 
decks of the Albemarle without doing much injury. 
“This terrific grand waltz” continued for some time; the 
ram taking the fire with stoical indifference. The little 
Bombshell was speedily forced to drop out of the fight. 
Then the Sassacus backed away and ran into the Albe¬ 
marle at a reported speed of ten knots. The ram was 
materially jarred, but sent a shot through and through 
the Sassacus, and soon another shot filled the Sassacus 
with steam and drove her from the fight. The Wyalus¬ 
ing signaled that she was sinking, and shortly afterward 
the command “cease firing” was signaled. The ioo- 
pound Parrotts and the 9-inch Dahlgrens had produced 
little appreciable effect on the Albemarle, and she had 
fairly discomfited her antagonists. 

The fall of Plymouth led to the Federal evacuation of 
Washington, N. C., on the 28th of April. On the evacu¬ 
ation, the town was burned by the Federal troops. Gen¬ 
eral Palmer, in an order condemning the atrocities com¬ 
mitted by his troops, used these words: “It is well known 
that the army vandals did not even respect the charitable 
institutions, but bursting open the doors of the Masonic 
and Odd Fellows’ lodge, pillaged them both and hawked 
about the streets the regalia and jewels. And this, too, 
by United States troops! It is well known that both 
public and private stores were entered and plundered, and 
that devastation and destruction ruled the hour.” * 

* Rebellion Records, XXXIII, p. 310. 

Nc 29 



226 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


General Hoke next moved against New Bern, and 
Roman says: “General Hoke had already taken the 
outworks at New Bern and demanded its surrender; 
when in obedience to instructions from Richmond, Gen¬ 
eral Beauregard sent him a special messenger (Lieutenant 
Chisolm, A. D. C.) with orders to repair forthwith to 
Petersburg, no matter how far his operations might have 
advanced against New Bern. . . . No time was lost in 
carrying out the order. ’ ’ * 

The effect that may be produced by the daring battle 
of a small force was most clearly shown by the attack of 
306 North Carolina horsemen upon Kilpatrick’s cavalry 
at Atlee’s station near Richmond. On the 28th of Feb¬ 
ruary, General Kilpatrick was ordered by the Federal 
government to take 3,000 cavalrymen and six pieces of 
aitillery and make a dash upon Richmond, then but 
slightly guarded. He was to be accompanied by Col. 
Ulric Dahlgren, and the avowed object of the movement 
was to liberate the Federal prisoners at Belle island, and 
do such other damage as time and means would allow. 

General Kilpatrick, acting upon his orders, moved so 
rapidly and unexpectedly that on the 1st of March he 
reached the immediate neighborhood of Richmond with¬ 
out his movement being disclosed. By a feigned attack 
at Ashland, Kilpatrick succeeded in throwing the Con¬ 
federates off his track, and captured the pickets and a 
small force in the rifle-pits on the Brook pike. Then, 
ascertaining that the Confederates were reinforcing in 
his front, Kilpatrick felt that an attack would end “in a 
bloody failure. ’’ So he withdrew his command, destroyed 
the bridges on the Virginia Central road, and went into 
camp near Mechanicsville. However, from scouts and 
spies, Kilpatrick learned that night that the entire avail¬ 
able Confederate force had been concentrated in front of 
Brook pike, where he had attacked, and that no force of 
Confederates was on the road from his camp to Richmond. 


* Roman’s Life of Beauregard, II, p. 199 , Note. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 227 

He says: ‘ It was now io p. m. I at once determined to 
make another attempt to enter the city. ’’ His men were 
ordered to set out. Just, however, as they started, Gen¬ 
eral Kilpatrick was informed by Colonel Sawyer, com¬ 
manding his Second brigade, that his pickets had been 
driven in on the road from Hanover Court House. Kil¬ 
patrick’s report continues: “A few moments later he 
(Sawyer) sent me word that the enemy was advancing in 
force and rapidly driving in his people. I sent orders for 
him to throw out a strong line of skirmishers, and if pos¬ 
sible charge the enemy and drive him back, as I intended 
to make this last effort to release our prisoners. Heavy mus¬ 
ketry and carbine firing could now be heard, and a moment 
later the enemy opened with a battery. I was forced to 
recall my troops to resist this attack, which now became 
serious. The enemy charged and drove back the Sev¬ 
enth Michigan, and considerable confusion ensued. The 
night was intensely dark, cold and stormy. ... Not 
knowing the strength of the enemy, I abandoned all fur¬ 
ther ideas of releasing our prisoners.” 

The force that brought about this commotion on that 
dark, sleety night, and made Kilpatrick give up his last 
chance of accomplishing his mission, was composed of a 
small band of North Carolina cavalry. General Hampton 
learned from- citizens that a cavalry force was heading for 
the Central railroad, and he reports: “As soon as I could 
learn what direction the enemy had taken, I sent all the 
mounted men from the North Carolina cavalry (Colonel 
Cheek), and 53 from the Second (Major Andrews), with 
Hart’s battery to Mount Carmel church.” The next 
morning General Hampton joined the command and 
moved down to strike the enemy. At Atlee’s station, 
about midnight, General Hampton sent Colonel Cheek 
to see what force the enemy had. Colonel Cheek took 
200 of his regiment and 30 of the Second. He found 
Sawyer’s brigade lying down, many of them asleep. 
Bringing a section of artillery, he endeavored to get the 


228 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


pieces in position, but one mired so that it was useless. 
Then dismounting 150 men under Captain Blair, Colonel 
Cheek directed them to close in, and, at the sound of the 
gun, to fire, shout and advance. The colonel waited with 
a squadron to charge on the stampede. At the flash of 
the signal gun, Blair’s men rushed forward, firing and 
shouting, and in the confusion that followed, Cheek 
charged with his mounted men. The result was that the 
brigade was badly broken and driven on the main body. 
General Hampton reports: “Kilpatrick immediately 
moved his division off at a gallop, leaving one of his 
wagons with horses hitched to it and one caisson full of 
ammunition.’’ This bold deed, as seen, probably saved 
the liberation of the prisoners at Belle island. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE WILDERNESS, 1864—GRANT MOVES ON RICHMOND 
—THE OPENING BATTLES OF MAY—THE “ BLOODY 
ANGLE’’—BATTLE OF DREWRY’S BLUFF—SERVICE 
OF NORTH CAROLINA COMMANDS—HOKE’S DIVI¬ 
SION. 

I N March, 1864, Gen. U. S. Grant was given the su¬ 
preme command of all the Federal forces in the field. 
From that time on, the Federal armies were, as Gen¬ 
eral Grant says, “all ready to move for the accomplish¬ 
ment of a single object. They were acting as a unit so 
far as such a thing was possible over such a vast field. 
Lee, with the capital of the Confederacy, was the main 
end to which all were working. ’ ’ * The cost in men and 
money was not to be counted in the accomplishment of 
that end. General Lee’s army had been so worn by con¬ 
stant attrition, that at the beginning of this campaign 
many Federal officers were of opinion that he could not 
recruit it enough to make another year’s campaign, f 
This belief may account for the apparently reckless ex¬ 
penditure of blood in this year’s operations against Lee. 
Men were thrown against the Confederate works and 
slaughtered, until at Cold Harbor, ordered to assault 
again, “his immobile lines pronounced a silent, yet em¬ 
phatic verdict against further slaughter, ’ ’ \ by refusing to 
budge. Attrition seemed to be the grand strategy of this 
campaign in which, according to the official returns pub¬ 
lished in the Rebellion Records, 88,387 Federals were 
killed, wounded or captured from May to November §— 

* General Grant, in Battles and Leaders, 
f General Webb’s article, “Through the Wilderness.” 

\ Swinton. 

§ Vol. XXXVI, I, p. 195. 


229 



230 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


a loss probably greater than the numerical strength of the 
army that inflicted it. The continued attacks by new Fed¬ 
eral troops, notwithstanding these startling losses, how¬ 
ever, produced a depressing effect on the Confederate 
soldiers. They were often heard to say: “It is of no use 
to kill these fellows; they are like flies, kill one and 
two come in its place. * ’ 

At midnight on May 3d, General Grant’s army began 
to cross the Rapidan, and move on the Germanna ford 
road toward the Wilderness. General Webb, of that army, 
gives this concrete illustration of the comparative 
strength of the two armies: “His [Grant’s] 118,000 men, 
properly disposed for battle, would have covered a front 
of twenty-one miles, two ranks deep, with one-third of 
them held in reserve; while Lee, with his 62,000 men, 
similarly disposed, would cover only twelve miles. Grant 
had a train which he states in his ‘Memoirs’ would 
have reached from the Rapidan to Richmond, or sixty 
miles. ’ ’ * 

This great army marched toward Richmond on the 
Germanna road. Two parallel roads, the Orange turn¬ 
pike and the Orange plank road, cross the Germanna road, 
nearly at right angles, not far from the famous Wilder¬ 
ness tavern. As General Grant’s columns stretched out 
along the Germanna road, General Lee moved the corps 
of Ewell and A. P. Hill on the two parallel roads, to 
strike the Federal flank. General Longstreet’s corps at 
the time of contact of these armies, May 5th, was distant 
a day’s march. General Ewell’s corps, moving on the 
turnpike, was diminished by the absence of Gen. R. D. 
Johnston’s North Carolina brigade, then stationed at 
Hanover Court House, and by Hoke’s North Carolina 
brigade, just then ordered up from North Carolina. An¬ 
derson’s division of Hill’s corps also was not present at 
the opening of the battle. “So,” says Colonel Venable 
of Lee’s staff, “on May 5th, General Lee had less than 


* Through the Wilderness. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


231 


28,000 infantry in hand.” * The willingness of the great 
Confederate commander to do battle against such odds 
is an enduring tribute to the fighting qualities of his 
followers. 

In General Ewell’s corps were these North Carolina 
troops: Daniel’s brigade, composed of the Thirty-second, 
Colonel Brabble; Forty-fifth, Colonel Boyd; Fifty-third, 
Colonel Owens, and Second battalion, Major Hancock; 
Ramseur’s brigade, made up of the Second, Colonel Cox; 
the Fourth, Colonel Grimes; the Fourteenth, Colonel 
Bennett, and the Thirtieth, Colonel Parker; Johnston’s 
brigade (absent the first day),constituted as follows: Fifth, 
Colonel Garrett; Twelfth, Colonel Coleman; Twentieth, 
Colonel Toon; Twenty-third, Colonel Blacknall; and the 
First, Colonel Brown, and Third, Colonel Thruston, in 
Steuart’s brigade. 

Ewell’s battle of the 5th was entirely distinct from 
Hill’s fight of the same day. As Ewell advanced—Jones’ 
brigade in front, followed by Battle’s and Doles’ on 
Battle’s right—Griffin’s division of Warren’s corps, com¬ 
posed of the brigades of Ayres, Bartlett and Barnes, fell 
upon Jones and drove him back. Jones’ men somewhat 
disordered Battle’s line as they gave way, but Doles held 
steady on the right. General Daniel was sent to the aid 
of Doles, who was hard pressed, and Gordon a little later 
formed on Daniel’s right. These North Carolinians and 
Georgians gallantly dashed against Griffin’s men, forced 
Ayres across the pike, and restored the Confederate line. 
Gordon being on the flank captured many prisoners. 
Wadsworth’s Federal division, supported on the left by 
Dennison’s brigade, advanced through the dense thickets 
to reinforce Griffin. He reached the firing line, says 
Humphreys, just about the time that Daniel’s and Gor¬ 
don’s brigades got on the ground, with his left flank to¬ 
ward them. They “took instant advantage to attack, 
and his front line being so entangled in the wood as not 


* Richmond Address. 



232 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


to admit of ready handling, its left fell back quickly and 
in some confusion, and the enemy passing through the 
opening thus made, took Dennison’s brigade in flank, as 
well as two brigades of the right, and after a short, sharp 
engagement forced them also to retire.”* McCandless’ 
brigade of Crawford’s division was also engaged and 
broken by these same brigades, assisted by a front fire. 

During the busy work of Daniel and Gordon on the 
flank, the Confederate front also had been seriously 
struggling. Steuart’s brigade, along with Battle’s, en¬ 
gaged the right of Griffin, whose left had been turned by 
Daniel and Gordon. In Steuart’s attack, the First and 
Third North Carolina regiments, forming his right, bore 
an honorable part. They charged upon a line of infantry 
supporting one of Griffin’s batteries, drove it and cap¬ 
tured two howitzers. The Regimental History of the 
Third regiment thus describes the capture: “Preceding 
and up to the capture of the howitzers, the fighting was 
desperate, muskets and their butt ends and bayonets being 
used. ... We recall that in a gully, which ran for more 
than a brigade front, Confederates and Federals were so 
nearly on even terms or at equal advantage, that they 
were simultaneously demanding each other to surrender. 
We, however, succeeded in establishing the superiority 
of our claim and came off victors. ” In the rest of Ewell’s 
hard fighting that afternoon, the North Carolinians were 
not called upon to take part. Ramseur’s brigade was in 
reserve. The First North Carolina cavalry was on 
Ewell’s left. At nightfall, Ewell had resisted all assaults, 
and at once fortified the line he held. 

While Ewell’s forces were thus engaged, Gen. A. P. 
Hill’s corps was battling with Getty and Hancock on the 
lower road. The fact, however, that there are in the 
official records so few reports from the officers engaged, 
makes it difficult to fully ascertain the parts borne by the 
North Carolina troops. There were four North Carolina 


* The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


233 


brigades and one regiment, the Fifty-fifth, Colonel Belo, 
in Hill’s corps: Kirkland’s—the Eleventh, Colonel Mar¬ 
tin; Twenty-sixth, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones; Forty- 
fourth, Colonel Singeltary; Forty-seventh, Colonel Fari¬ 
bault; Fifty-second, Colonel Little; Cooke’s brigade—the 
Fifteenth, Lieutenant-Colonel Yarborough; Twenty-sev¬ 
enth, Colonel Gilmer; Forty-sixth, Colonel Saunders; 
Forty-eighth, Colonel Walkup; Lane’s brigade—the Sev¬ 
enth, Colonel Davidson; Eighteenth, Colonel Barry; 
Twenty-eighth, Colonel Speer; Thirty-third, Colonel 
Avery; Thirty-seventh, Colonel Barbour; Scales’ bri¬ 
gade—Thirteenth, Colonel Hyman; Sixteenth, Colonel 
Stowe; Twenty-second, Colonel Galloway; Thirty-fourth, 
Colonel Lowrance; Thirty-eighth, Colonel Ashford. 
Cooke and Kirkland were in Heth’s division, Scales and 
Lane in Wilcox’s division. 

When Heth’s division, the head of A. P. Hill’s corps, 
approached the Federal lines, General Meade ordered 
Getty’s division of Sedgwick’s corps, supported by Han¬ 
cock’s corps, to attack the Confederates and drive them 
back to Parker’s store, so that Hancock might connect 
with Warren’s left. Hancock formed the divisions of 
Birney, Mott, Gibbon and Barlow on Getty’s left. These 
five divisions were resisted all the afternoon by Heth’s 
and Wilcox’s divisions alone, Anderson, Hill’s other 
division commander, being still absent with his command. 
The divisions of Getty, Birney, Mott, two brigades of 
Hancock and two of Barlow were composed of seventy- 
nine regiments. The two divisions that opposed them 
numbered forty regiments. Of these forty regiments, 
twenty, as seen above, were from North Carolina. 

Heth’s division was drawn up across the plank road. 
Cooke’s North Carolina brigade had two of its regiments, 
the Fifteenth and Forty-sixth, on the right of the road, 
and two, the Twenty-seventh and Forty-eighth, on the 
left of the road. During a part of the engagement, Kirk¬ 
land’s men supported Cooke. Later it passed to the front 

Nc 30 


234 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


line and was heavily engaged. Both of these brigades 
did steady, hard fighting during all the afternoon as they 
met the heavy masses of the Second corps. How effective 
their fire was is shown by a statement made by Col. W. J. 
Martin of the Eleventh regiment. He says, in his Regi¬ 
mental History: “At one time, during the fighting on 
the 5th, our regiment lay down behind a line of dead Fed- 
erals so thick as to form a partial breastwork, showing 
how stubbornly they had fought and how severely they 
had suffered. It was a novel experience, and seems 
ghastly enough in the retrospect. ” As the Federals con¬ 
tinued to multiply in Heth’s front, Wilcox’s division was 
withdrawn from the flank and put in to relieve Heth. 
This brought the brigades of Lane and Scales into the 
thickest of the fight. Wilcox assigned Scales and Lane 
to the right of the road, McGowan to the road and Thomas 
to his left. “The two brigades on the right,” says Hum¬ 
phreys “(Lane’s and Scales’), passed through Heth’s lines 
and advanced at different times as far as the swamps, in 
and near which they encountered Hancock’s and Getty’s 
men with varying success, but were finally forced back 
to Heth’s position.’’* Lane says in his account of the 
battle, that his men did not lose ground until they were 
doubled in on both flanks. Davis’ brigade, of which the 
Fifty-fifth North Carolina formed a part, was posted be¬ 
hind a hill crest, and Colonel Cooke says in his Regi¬ 
mental History, “Our line never wavered. About 3:30 
our skirmish line was driven in and the first line of the 
Federal forces charged us, but they got no further than 
the crest of the hill in front of us, and were repulsed with 
great loss; from then until sunset they charged us seven 
times, but we repulsed every attack. ’ ’ 

As these troops were to be relieved by Longstreet at 
daylight, no attempt was made to readjust their tangled 
lines that night. The jaded men sank to sleep just where 
they had been fighting. The two armies were so close 


* The Campaign of 1864 and 1865. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


235 


to each other that many men from both sides were, while 
searching for water, captured by their opponents. The 
failure to form fresh line of battle or to fortify during 
the night came near working disaster, for the Federals 
assaulted at dawn, and as a result much disorder was 
created. Cooke’s men, contrary to orders, had slightly 
intrenched, and they, bravely assisted by Williams’ North 
Carolina battery, held their front intact. Just as the 
men on each side of them began to be pressed beyond 
their flanks, Longstreet’s corps arrived and restored the 

broken lines by an energetic onset. In this early morn- 

« 

ing fight, the North Carolinians were heavy sufferers. 
Lane says: “We opposed this force for a short time (the 
Thirty-third fighting like heroes), but could not long 
stand the terrible fire in our front and flank. ’ ’ Col. C. M. 
Avery, of this regiment that Lane praises, was mortally 
wounded while courageously passing up and down his line 
and urging his men to stand firm. 

During the morning attacks on Hill’s position, and the 
splendid fighting of Longstreet’s men, who flanked Han¬ 
cock and doubled him up, repeated assaults were made on 
Ewell’s lines, but they were all repelled. His men had 
intrenched themselves and were anxious to be attacked. 
“Grant,” comments General Webb of the Federal army, 
“had been thoroughly defeated in his attempt to walk 
past General Lee on the way to Richmond. ’ ’ * 

Owing to the absence of official reports, no accurate 
summary of North Carolina losses is possible. Lane 
reports his loss as 43 killed, 229 wounded and 143 missing. 
Captain Graham states that the loss in Cooke’s brigade 
was about 1,080. The total Federal loss in this battle 
was 15,387. 

On the 7th, General Grant began to move his army to¬ 
ward Spottsylvania Court House. That night the race 
of the two armies for Spottsylvania began. Warren was 
pushed out of the way, and Lee’s army occupied the cov- 


* Battles and Leaders. 



236 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


eted point. During the movements on the 7th, Ramseur’s 
brigade was ordered to form on Daniel’s right to prevent 
a movement that Burnside was making to cut off the 
Second corps. Ramseur reports: “Moving at a double- 
quick, I arrived just in time to check a large flanking 
party of the enemy, and by strengthening and extending 
my skirmish line, I turned the enemy’s line, and by a 
dashing charge with my skirmishers, under the gallant 
Maj. E. A. Osborne of the Fourth North Carolina regi¬ 
ment, drove not only the enemy’s skirmishers, but his 
line of battle back, capturing some prisoners, and the 
knapsacks and shelter tents of an entire regiment.” 

New lines were soon formed around the court house; 
Longstreet’s corps resting on the Po river, Ewell’s in the 
center, and A. P. Hill’s on the right. The 9th of May 
was a day of comparative rest from fighting. The Con¬ 
federates spent the day in intrenching, and made a most 
formidable line around the town. 

On the 10th, Hancock’s corps crossed the Po to ascertain 
whether Lee was moving. This corps was afterward 
ordered to return. As it was being withdrawn, Heth’s 
division, under directions from General Early, attacked 
it. His attack especially fell upon the brigades of Brooke 
and Brown, and General Humphreys states that their 
loss was severe. General Early, in his account of this 
affair, says: “Heth’s division behaved very handsomely, 
all of the brigades, Cooke’s, Davis’, Kirkland’s and 
Walker’s, being engaged in the attack.”* During this 
retreat of the Federals, the woods in their rear took fire, 
and their retreat, as well as the Confederate advance, was 
through the burning forests. Many of the Union wounded 
were burned to death. 

But the day was to close with a sterner conflict. Han¬ 
cock had been recalled from across the Po to join in a 
front attack on Lee’s lines. The first assault was on 
Longstreet’s corps, and was disastrously repulsed. The 


* Preface to Valley Campaign. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


237 


Federals then, after as careful a reconnoissance as the 
proximity of the lines permitted, decided that the 
part of Lee’s line held by Doles’ brigade was vulnerable 
to front assault. Accordingly a storming force was or¬ 
ganized. Colonel Upton, with three brigades of Sedg¬ 
wick’s corps, twelve regiments in all, led the storming 
columns against the works held by Doles and his three 
Georgia regiments. Upton was followed by Mott’s divi¬ 
sion of Hancock’s corps. This division numbered seven¬ 
teen regiments. The attack of the first line, made after 
a violent artillery fire, was somewhat of a surprise to the 
Confederates. Doles’ three regiments, after a splendid 
resistance, were overrun, and the assailants poured through 
the gap thus made. But it was a death-trap into which 
they had bravely plunged. Daniel’s North Carolina bri¬ 
gade, withdrawing from its line, attacked Upton on one 
flank. Gordon hurried forward Battle’s Alabamians to 
strike him in front. R. D. Johnston’s North Carolinians 
joined Daniel on the flank, and Steuart’s North Caroli¬ 
nians and Virginians fired into the other flank, as did also 
the Stonewall brigade. The Federals were forced out of 
the works, leaving, says General Ewell, ioo dead men in 
the works and many outside of them. Upton states his 
loss at 1,000. Mott’s division did not follow closely 
Upton’s lead, and it seems to have been more easily 
repulsed. During the interim, squads of Confederates 
slipped over the works and picked up muskets and am¬ 
munition, and all along the line many a soldier had sev¬ 
eral muskets. These they fired in rapid succession, and 
as they were reloaded by comrades, the fire was incessant. 
Many of Upton’s men lay down outside the works to 
await the approaching night in order that they might 
retire in safety. The conduct of one of Gen. R. D. 
Johnston’s regiments drew from General Lee the follow¬ 
ing letter: 


238 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia. 

May ii, 1864. 

Sir: Yesterday evening the enemy penetrated a part 
of our line and planted his colors upon the temporary 
breastworks erected by our troops. He was immediately 
repulsed, and among the brave men who met him, the 
Twentieth North Carolina regiment, under Colonel [T. F.J 
Toon, of the brigade commanded by Brig.-Gen. R. D. 
Johnston, captured his flag. It was brought to me by 
Maj. John S. Brooks, of that regiment, who received his 
promotion for gallantry in the battle of Chancellorsville, 
with the request that it be given to Governor Vance. I take 
great pleasure in complying with the wish of the gallant 
captors, and respectfully ask that it be granted, and that 
these colors be presented to the State of North Carolina 
as another evidence of the valor and devotion that have 
made her name eminent in the armies of the Confederacy. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Hon. Secretary of War, Richmond, Va. ^ EE * 


“The next day was rainy and disagreeable, and no 
serious fighting took place. There were movements, 
however, along the Federal lines during the day that 
indicated a withdrawal from the front of Longstreet’s 
corps. Late in the afternoon, under the impression that 
General Grant had actually begun another flanking move¬ 
ment, General Lee ordered that all artillery on the left 
and center that was ‘difficult of access’ should be with¬ 
drawn from the lines, and that everything should be in 
readiness to move during the night if necessary. Under 
this order, General Long, Ewell’s chief of artillery, re¬ 
moved all but two batteries from the line of Gen. Edward 
Johnson’s division. Johnson’s division held an elevated 
point somewhat advanced from the general line, and known 
as the salient, or “Bloody Angle,’’ the breastworks there 
making a considerable angle, with its point toward the 
enemy. . . . To provide against contingencies, a second 
line had been laid off and partly constructed a short 
distance in rear, so as to cut off this salient. ’ ’ * 

* General Law, in Battles and Leaders. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


239 


Against this salient, thus stripped of its artillery, Gen¬ 
eral Grant was, on the rainy nth, preparing a grand 
assault. Hancock was ordered to take three divisions of 
the Second corps to join the Ninth corps in an assault at 
4 o’clock on the morning of the 12th. Barlow’s, Birney’s 
and Mott’s divisions were massed during the night in front 
of Johnson’s position. Gibbon’s division was moved up 
as a reserve, but really joined in the assault. Russell’s 
and Getty’s divisions were directed to be under arms and 
ready to move wherever needed. 

Johnson had heard the heavy movements of troops in 
the night, and, promptly reporting it to General Ewell, 
asked for the return of the artillery. Orders were issued 
for the guns to be replaced at daylight, and Gordon was 
directed to take position to aid any threatened point. 

Owing to a heavy fog, General Hancock delayed his 
advance until the first glimmer of the morning. Then, 
with a rush, his serried columns, wedged almost into one 
moving mass, dashed over the works, capturing Generals 
Johnson and Steuart and over 2,000 men. The Confed¬ 
erate artillery was just gallopingon the field, and was cap¬ 
tured before it could fire a shot. The infantry, however, 
struggled desperately for the works. General Hancock 
says in his report: “The interior of the intrenchments 
presented a terrible and ghastly spectacle of dead, most 
of whom were killed by our men with the bayonet, when 
they penetrated the works. So thickly lay the dead at 
this point that at many places the bodies were touching 
and piled upon each other.’’ Almost all of the First and 
Third North Carolina regiments were among the cap¬ 
tured. Col. S. D. Thruston of the Third was wounded, 
and Col. H. A. Brown of the First regiment was also 
“wounded, captured and recaptured three times.’’ Col¬ 
onel Brown says of the Federal assault: “The terrific 
onslaught of this vast multitude was irresistible, there 
being a rectangular mass of 20,000 Federal troops. . . . 
The portion of the works assaulted by this formidable 


240 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


'column was little more than 400 yards wide. The clash 
of arms and the murderous fire around this bloody angle 
are indescribable. ’ ’ 

The Federals found that it was easier to get within the 
Confederate lines than it was to stay there. As soon as 
they were fairly inside, they began to extend their lines 
on both flanks, and at the same time to move forward. 
By a singular coincidence it fell to the lot of North Caro¬ 
lina troops to attack them on three sides. The first fresh 
troops that they encountered in front were R. D. Johns¬ 
ton’s North Carolinians of Gordon’s division. The im¬ 
pact was too strong for Johnston. That gallant officer 
was wounded, and his men, though struggling heroically, 
driven back. Gordon, however, threw forward his other 
brigades, and by hard fighting drove the Federals back 
toward the place of their entrance. 

On Gordon’s right, the extension of the Federal left 
encountered Lane’s North Carolina brigade. 4 ‘ They were 
checked by General Lane,” says Colonel Venable, “who, 
throwing his left flank back from the trenches, confronted 
their advance.”* General Lane, in his report, tells how 
this was done: “In the best of spirits, the brigade wel¬ 
comed the furious assault which soon followed, with pro¬ 
longed cheers and death-dealing volleys. . . . It is impos¬ 
sible for me to speak in too high terms of my command 
in repulsing this terrible attack of the enemy—men could 
not fight better, nor officers behave more gallantly; 
the latter, regardless of danger, would frequently pass 
along the line and cheer the men in their glorious work. 
We justly claim for this brigade alone the honor of not 
only stemming, but of rolling back this ‘tide of Fed¬ 
eral victory which came surging furiously to our right.’ ” 

On the other side of the angle, similar bravery was 
shown. General Ewell’s report clearly shows the service 
of the North Carolinians there. He says: “Their main 
effort was evidently against Rodes’ position to the left of 


* Richmond Address. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


241 


the angle, and here the fighting was of the most desper¬ 
ate character. General Rodes moved Daniel’s brigade 
(all North Carolinians) from its works to meet the enemy. 
General Kershaw extended so as to allow Ramseur (North 
Carolina brigade) to be withdrawn, and as Daniel’s right 
was unprotected, Ramseur was sent in there. He retook 
the works to Daniel’s right along his whole brigade front 
by a charge of unsurpassed gallantry, but the salient 
was still held by the enemy, and a most deadly fire poured 
on his right flank.” Davis and McGowan then went in, 
and these brigades held their ground until 3 o’clock, when 
all were withdrawn to the new line behind the salient. 
General Daniel was mortally wounded, and General Ram¬ 
seur seriously, but the latter courageously remained 
on the field. General Ramseur in his report thus de¬ 
scribes the part his brigade took in this most gallant 
movement: “Major-General Rodes ordered me to check 
the enemy’s advance and drive him back. To do this, I 
formed my brigade in a line parallel to the two lines of 
works (which the enemy had taken and were holding) in 
the following order: On the right, Thirtieth North Caro¬ 
lina, Colonel Parker; on the left, Fourteenth North Caro¬ 
lina, Colonel Bennett; right center, Second North Caro¬ 
lina, Colonel Cox; left center, Fourth North Carolina, 
Colonel Grimes. This formation was made under a severe 
fire. Before ordering the charge, I cautioned the men 
to keep the alignment, not to fire, to move slowly until 
the command ‘Charge!’ and then to move forward on the 
run, shouting ‘Charge!’ and not to pause until both lines 
of works were ours. . . . Two lines of Yankees were 
driven pellmell out and over both lines of our original 
works, with great loss. This was done without any assist¬ 
ance on my immediate right. The enemy still held the 
breastworks on my right, enfilading my line with a de¬ 
structive fire, at the same time heavily assaulting my right 
front. In this extremity, Colonel Bennett, Fourteenth 
North Carolina, offered to take his regiment from left to 

Nc 3i 


242 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


right, under a severe fire, and drive back the growing 
masses of the enemy on my right. This bold and hazard¬ 
ous offer was accepted as a forlorn hope. It was success¬ 
fully executed; the enemy was driven from my immediate 
right, and the works were held, notwithstanding the 
enemy still enfiladed my line from a part of our works in 
front of Harris’ brigade, which he held unto the last. 
For this all honor is due Colonel Bennett and the gallant 
officers and men of his regiment. To Colonels Parker, 
Cox, Grimes and Bennett, to the gallant officers and pa¬ 
triotic men of my little brigade, the country owes much 
for the successful charge, which I verily believe turned 
the fortune of the day at that point in our favor.” 

“Hancock,” says General Law, “had been reinforced 
by the divisions of Russell and Wheaton, and about half 
of Warren’s corps as the battle progressed.” All day 
long the men contended like fiends for the works over 
which both Federal and Confederate flags were waving. 
Two extracts from official reports will show the fierceness 
of the fighting. Brigadier-General Grant, of the Vermont 
brigade, says: “It was not only a desperate struggle, but 
it was literally a hand-to-hand struggle. Nothing but the 
piled up logs and breastworks separated the combatants. 
Our men would reach over the logs and fire into the 
forces of the enemy, would stab over with their bayonets; 
many were shot or stabbed through the crevices between 
the logs. ... It was there that the somewhat celebrated 
tree was cut down by bullets, there that the bush and logs 
were cut to pieces and whipped into basket stuff.” 

General McGowan, on the Confederate side, says: “Our 
men lay on one side of the breastworks, the enemy on 
the other, and in many instances men were pulled over. 
The trenches in the ‘bloody angle’ had to be cleared of 
the dead more than once.” 

General Grant in his report sums up this attack in the 
brief sentence, “But the resistance was so obstinate that 
the advantage gained did not prove decisive. ” General 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


243 


Humphreys states from Federal records that Grant’s loss 
in this sanguinary assault was 6,820. There are no official 
returns of the Confederate losses. General Lane states 
the loss in his brigade at 470. General Daniel’s death 
was a great blow to his State and to the army. His mas¬ 
terly handling of his men at Gettysburg, his hard fighting 
in the Wilderness, and his skillful management at Spott- 
sylvania, showed his great worth as a soldier. His care 
for his men, and his affectionate interest in their comfort 
and happiness, showed that he was more than a mere sol¬ 
dier. His largeness of heart and generous nature had 
been proved in countless ways. In his fall, North Caro¬ 
lina lost a son whom its people not only honored but thor¬ 
oughly esteemed. 

The captured angle, rendered useless by the second 
line, was abandoned on the 14th. Attacks by the Feder- 
als on that day and again on the 18th were repulsed. On 
the 19th, Ewell’s corps was directed to cross the Ni, and 
threaten Grant’s communication. Ewell became right 
heavily engaged, and Ramseur’s brigade again rendered 
conspicuously brave service. 

While this active campaign was being waged above 
Richmond, another army, in which North Carolina was 
largely represented, fought, under General Beauregard’s 
able direction, the battle of Drewry’s Bluff on the south 
side of the Confederate capital. Of the four division com¬ 
manders under Beauregard, three of them, Gens. Robert 
Ransom, Hoke and Whiting, were citizens of North Car¬ 
olina. The following North Carolina troops were part of 
that organization: Hoke’s old brigade under Col. W. G. 
Lewis, made up of these regiments—Sixth, Colonel Webb; 
Twenty-first, Lieutenant-Colonel Rankin; Fifty-fourth, 
Colonel Murchison; Fifty-seventh, Colonel Godwin; First 
North Carolina battalion, Colonel Wharton; Clingman’s 
brigade, composed of these regiments—Eighth, Colonel 
Whitson; Thirty-first, Colonel Jordan; Fifty-first, Colonel 
McKethan; Sixty-first, Colonel Radcliffe; Ransom’s bri- 


244 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gade—Twenty-fourth, Colonel Clarke; Twenty-fifth, Col¬ 
onel Rutledge; Thirty-fifth, Colonel Jones; Forty-ninth, 
Colonel McAfee; Fifty-sixth, Colonel Faison; Martin’s 
brigade—Seventeenth, Lieutenant-Colonel Lamb; Forty- 
second, Colonel Brown; Sixty-sixth, Colonel Moore. The 
following cavalry regiments were present: Third, Colonel 
Baker; Fourth, Colonel Ferebee; Sixth, Colonel Folk. 
Miller’s and Cumming’s batteries also participated in the 
^campaign. 

General Butler, commanding an army estimated at 
36,000 men, was to advance on Richmond from the south 
James side, intrench as he came, and ultimately join 
General Grant. The united armies were then to crush 
Lee and take Richmond. When Butler’s initiatory move¬ 
ments began, there were few Confederate troops in his 
front. But General Hoke’s division was hurried there, 
thus stopping his brilliant campaign in North Carolina. 
General Whiting’s force was moved up, and General 
Ransom’s division placed under General Beauregard’s 
direction. Scattered troops were also hastily sent to 
Beauregard. That able soldier soon organized them into 
an effective command, and took the offensive from Gen¬ 
eral Butler by moving against the latter’s works. Gen¬ 
eral Floke’s division reached Petersburg on the 10th of 
May. General Beauregard at once placed Hoke in charge 
of the advance column of six brigades, with orders to 
proceed at once toward Drewry’s bluff and effect a junc¬ 
tion with General Ransom’s division. General Whiting 
arrived at Petersburg on the 13th, and General Beaure¬ 
gard, after explaining to him his plans, set out, escorted 
by a regiment of Colquitt’s brigade and Colonel Baker’s 
Third North Carolina cavalry, to assume command in 
front. General Beauregard estimated his strength at 
25,000 men. 

On the 13th of May, General Terry assaulted the Con¬ 
federate lines near Wooldridge’s hill. Gen. M. W. 
Ransom’s brigade, on the extreme Confederate right, was 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


245 


engaged in his repulse. As Terry advanced, the Confed¬ 
erate skirmishers, under the dashing Capt. Cicero A. Dur¬ 
ham, made a most stubborn resistance, and did some 
gallant fighting, in which Durham was mortally wounded. 
The first assault of the Federals was disastrously repulsed. 
As the Federal charge was broken, “the Forty-ninth and 
Twenty-fifth North Carolina regiments,” says Judge 
Roulhac, “leaped over the works and poured a destructive 
volley into the ranks of the flanking party. ’ ’ While the 
Federals were preparing for a second attack, the Confed¬ 
erate forces were withdrawn to an inner line. During 
this engagement, Gen. M. W. Ransom was severely 
wounded, and Colonel Rutledge succeeded to the com¬ 
mand of the brigade. 

On the 16th, General Beauregard, putting Ransom’s 
division on his left, next to Drewry’s bluff, Hoke’s on his 
right, Colquitt in reserve, ordered an attack at daylight. 
The attack was to begin by Ransom’s turning the Fed¬ 
eral right. Whiting’s division, then at Walthall Junction, 
and almost directly in rear of Butler, was, as soon as the 
Federal front was broken, to strike Butler’s flank and 
rear. Each division was accompanied by a battalion of 
artillery and a small cavalry force. From this admirably 
conceived plan, General Beauregard expected to destroy 
or capture Butler’s army. 

The Confederate troops took position by bright moon¬ 
light. Just after dawn a fog, so dense that a horseman 
could not be seen at fifteen paces, settled down and greatly 
retarded operations. General Ransom’s left was con¬ 
fronted by Generals Weitzel’s and Brooks’ Federal divi¬ 
sions. General Hoke faced Terry’s and Turner’s divisions. 
The Federals occupied a line of works that the Confeder¬ 
ates had constructed. In front of a good part of the Fed¬ 
eral line, telegraph wires had been stretched near the 
ground. 

General Ransom moved out of the trenches before day, 
and formed line of battle with Gracie, supported by 


246 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Terry on his left, and Hoke’s old brigade, commanded by 
Colonel Lewis, supported by Fry on the right. He struck 
Heckman’s brigade on the extreme right, and carried 
his line of works by storm, forcing Heckman back in con¬ 
fusion toward the center. In this attack, the North Car¬ 
olina brigade acted with the utmost bravery, and lost 
some most gallant officers and men. Soon after the 
engagement opened, the Twenty-fourth regiment, Colonel 
Clarke, and the Forty-ninth, Major Davis then in com¬ 
mand (Colonel McAfee being wounded and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Fleming being in charge of the skirmish line), 
were ordered to the right flank of Johnson’s brigade, and 
shared nobly in the hard fighting done by that brigade, 
materially helping Johnson to clear his front and cap¬ 
ture the works in front of him. The confusion caused by 
the fog and the additional derangement of lines conse¬ 
quent upon an attack, caused General Ransom to halt and 
reform his battle front. The cavalry under Colonel Don- 
ovant was dismounted and actively employed as skirmish¬ 
ers on the left of Ransom’s line, and the artillery was 
engaged all the morning. General Beauregard says of 
this action that General Ransom’s troops behaved with 
‘ ‘ acknowledged gallantry. ’ ’ 

On the right, General Hoke, of whom General Beaure¬ 
gard says, “he handled his command with that resolution 
and judgment for which he was conspicuous,’’ formed his 
line with Hagood and Johnson on his left, and Clingman 
(North Carolina) and Corse on his right. At dawn he 
threw out skirmishers, and opened his artillery. The 
infantry attack began with an advance of Hagood’s and 
Johnson’s brigades. They went in with determination 
and success. Hagood’s brigade captured five pieces of 
artillery and a number of prisoners, and the two brigades 
occupied the enemy’s works. But the enemy attacked 
Hoke’s front with fierceness. Especially on Johnson’s 
right was the fighting continuous, Generals Terry and 
Turner struggling tenaciously to hold their ground. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


247 


General Clingman’s and General Corse’s brigades were 
sent to Johnson’s right. A spirited attack by them failed 
to entirely carry the intrenchments before them. Gen¬ 
eral Butler, however, withdrew his forces to the line of 
Proctor’s creek. 

All day the Confederate commander anxiously expected 
General Whiting to make the flank attack ordered, and 
from which it was hoped so much would result. For 
reasons stated at some length in General Whiting’s report, 
he failed to carry out the part assigned, and the defeat of 
General Butler was not so complete as the Confederate 
commander had hoped to make it. This battle, however, 
resulted in what General Grant styled “the bottling up” 
of Butler’s forces in defensive works, and shattered all 
expectations of active co-operation on Butler’s part in the 
advance on Richmond. 

During the day General Dearing, commanding General 
Whiting’s cavalry, forced his way by Ames’ men, 
reported to General Beauregard, and returned that after¬ 
noon with many prisoners. The boldness of the move¬ 
ment won warm praise from Dearing’s superiors. 

An assault on part of Butler’s advanced lines of in¬ 
trenchments and rifle-pits took place on the 20th of May 
at Howlett’s house. Those held by Ames were captured 
and retained; but Terry was fortunate enough to regain 
from the Confederates those that he at first lost to them. 
In this action, the young and chivalrous Lieut.-Col. J. C. 
Lamb, of the Seventeenth North Carolina, was mortally 
wounded. The North Carolina losses in this series of 
actions were, killed, 99; wounded, 574. 

After the battle at Drewry’s bluff, Lewis’ brigade 
(Hoke’s) was ordered to join General Lee, and the Forty- 
third regiment that had been acting with it took its old 
place in Daniel’s brigade. This brigade was now com¬ 
manded by Gen. Bryan Grimes, he having been promoted 
on General Daniel’s death. 

General Hoke, to whom a permanent division, composed 


248 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of Martin’s and Clingman’s North Carolina brigades and 
Colquitt’s and Hagood’s brigades, had been assigned, 
also reported to General Lee at Cold Harbor just in time 
to be of the utmost service to him. 

Commenting on the services that had just been rendered 
by General Hoke’s command, and also upon its record at 
Cold Harbor, Colonel Burgwyn says: 

In the spring of 1864 the Confederate authorities de¬ 
cided to anticipate the pending campaign by the capture 
of some of the towns held by the enemy in eastern North 
Carolina. Brig.-Gen. R. F. Hoke was selected to com¬ 
mand the expedition. He took with him his own, Ran¬ 
som’s, Terry’s Virginia brigade, the Forty-third North 
Carolina regiment, of which your distinguished citizen, 
Thomas S. Kenan, was colonel, and several batteries of 
artillery, assisted by the ram Albemarle operating in the 
Roanoke river. 

Capturing Plymouth (April 20, 1864), after one of the 
most brilliant of assaults, with some 2,500 prisoners and 
large supplies of provisions and munitions of war, Gen¬ 
eral Hoke marched to Washington, forced the evacuation 
of the place, and pi'omptly invested New Bern, which was 
to be assaulted the next day with every prospect of suc¬ 
cess, when telegrams from President Davis, Secretary of 
War Seddon, Generals Lee and Beauregard ordered him 
to withdraw from New Bern with all haste, and interpose 
his troops between Butler and Richmond. Moving with¬ 
out a moment’s delay, General Hoke reached Petersburg 
in advance of Butler; but so close was the race, that as 
Hoke’s troops filed into the works protecting Petersburg, 
the advance of Butler’s army appeared in view, making 
for the same point. This march of General Hoke’s troops 
stands at West Point as the most rapid movement of 
troops on record. Appointed a major-general for his 
distinguished services as above, Hoke with his division, 
of which Clingman’s brigade was part, helped to win 
the victory of Drewry’s Bluff. Transferred to the north 
bank of the James, they saved the day at Cold Harbor. 
Hurried again to the southern side of the James, they 
reached the works defending Petersburg just in time to 
save the cty on the memorable attack, June 17, 1864.* 


* Memorial Address on Clingman. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SERVICES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CAVALRY 
ALONG THE RAPIDAN—BATTLE OF YELLOW TAV¬ 
ERN—THE SECOND COLD HARBOR BATTLE —EAR¬ 
LY’S LYNCHBURG AND MARYLAND CAMPAIGNS — 
BATTLES IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA—ACTIVITY 
OF THE CONFEDERATE CAVALRY. 

W HEN the spring campaign opened, the North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry brigade, commanded by Gen. James 
B. Gordon, was transferred from Hampton’s to 
W. H. F. Lee’s division, and, a little later, Colonel Ba¬ 
ker’s Third North Carolina cavalry took the place of the 
Fourth North Carolina in that brigade. 

At the opening of Grant’s campaign, the First North 
Carolina was on picket duty along the Rapidan, and 
Colonel Cheek and Major Cowles were of signal service 
in reporting hostile movements. This regiment cap¬ 
tured over 400 prisoners in a short time. When Sheri¬ 
dan, with a force estimated at from 10,000 to 12,000 men, 
started on his Richmond raid, General Stuart had only 
three available brigades for detachment to meet this for¬ 
midable cavalcade. Taking Wickham’s and Lomax’s 
brigades under his personal command, General Stuart 
sought, by forced marches, to interpose between Sheri¬ 
dan and Richmond. He left Gordon’s North Carolina 
brigade to retire before Sheridan, and harass him as 
much as such a pitifully inadequate number could harass 
so great a force as Sheridan commanded. Gordon’s un¬ 
flinching horsemen were involved in almost daily skir¬ 
mishes with the Federals, and daily lost men he could ill 
spare from his thinning ranks. Among these was the 

249 

Nc 32 


250 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


vigilant and resourceful colonel of the First regiment, 
W. H. Cheek, who was wounded. 

At Yellow tavern, on the nth of May, Stuart in front 
of Sheridan attacked with his two brigades, while Gordon 
assailed the Federals in the rear. Stuart made a mas¬ 
terly fight, as the severe Federal losses show, but, in the 
action, both he and General Gordon fell mortally wound¬ 
ed. No loss since the incomparable Jackson’s death was 
so hurtful to General Lee’s strategic power as Stuart’s 
fall. 

General Gordon, trained under Stuart, and sharing his 
dash and reckless courage, was a model cavalry offi¬ 
cer. Undaunted by difficulties and perils, equal to great 
physical hardships, undismayed by reverses, his men had 
implicit confidence in him, even as he had unwavering 
trust in his cavalry leader. 

Following Yellow tavern, came Hampton’s great fight 
at Trevilian station, and sharp combats at Todd’s tavern, 
White house, Haws’ shop, Hanover and Ashland. In 
these, General Barringer says the cavalry was more and 
more following Forrest’s example, and fighting on foot. 
The saber was giving place to the more deadly short rifle. 
The First, Second and Fifth were all active and daring in 
their service in these trying days. 

In June, Colonel Barringer was commissioned brigadier- 
general and assumed command of Gordon’s brigade, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Cowles became commander of the 
First regiment, as Colonel Cheek was away wounded. 

When General Grant found that he could not success¬ 
fully break through the Confederate lines at Spottsylvania, 
he again renewed what the soldiers called his “sidling” 
movement toward Richmond. Again General Lee made 
a counter move, and took position around Cold Harbor. 
On the way to the new position some brisk fighting 
occurred. 

At Jericho ford, Lane’s North Carolinians and Mc¬ 
Gowan’s South Carolinians became entangled in a river- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 251 

side fight with the Federal line posted on a crest. Lane 
sustained a loss of n killed and 79 wounded. This 
same brigade had sharp skirmishes at Starr’s farm on 
Totopotomoy creek, and at Turkey ridge. In the latter, 
General Lane was wounded by a sharpshooter, and during 
his enforced absence, first Col. J. D. Barry and then 
General Conner commanded his brigade. 

The next important battle was at Cold Harbor, where 
General Grant made two prolonged assaults upon the 
Confederate lines. In these, according to General Hum¬ 
phreys’ figures, he lost 9,948.* The Confederate losses 
are reported at 1,500, a figure that is perhaps too small, 
but as Lee’s men fought behind intrenchments, their 
losses were comparatively light. General McMahon, 
of the Federal army, utters the opinion of most mili¬ 
tary men when he says: “In the opinion of a majority 
of its survivors, the battle of Cold Harbor should never 
have been fought.’’ He then adds: “It was the dreary, 
dismal, bloody, ineffective close of the lieutenant-gen¬ 
eral’s first campaign with the army of the Potomac, and 
corresponded in all its essential features with what had 
preceded it. ” f 

General Lee’s army was posted as follows: Hoke’s 
division was on his right, near Cold Harbor. Then came 
Kershaw, Pickett and Field, of Longstreet’s corps. 
Ewell’s corps under Early, and Early’s division under 
Ramseur, occupied the center, A. P. Hill holding the left. 
There were present in the army thus posted, so far as may 
be made out from the meager reports, the following 
North Carolina troops: Martin’s, Clingman’s, Daniel’s 
(now commanded by Brig.-Gen. Bryan Grimes), Ram- 
seur’s (now under Brig.-Gen. W. R. Cox), Johnston’s, 
Cooke’s, Kirkland’s (now under MacRae), Lane’s, Scales’, 
and Hoke’s (under Lewis and later Godwin) brigades, 
and the remnants of the First and Third regiments sub- 


* Campaign of 1864 and 1865. 
f Battles and Leaders. 



252 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


sequently assigned to General Cox’s brigade. Then op¬ 
erating on the flanks was Gordon’s gallant brigade of cav¬ 
alry, the First, Second and Fifth, commanded after Gor¬ 
don’s death by General Barringer. Of the batteries 
present, the records show only Flanner’s, Ramsey’s, 
and Williams’, but Manly’s also was there. The reports 
from the artillery all through the war are very unsatis¬ 
factory in detail, and those faithful men are rarely men¬ 
tioned except for some unusually brilliant service such 
as that of Williams’ battery in the Wilderness. 

Forty-three regiments of infantry, three of cavalry and 
four batteries of artillery were then North Carolina’s 
representatives in this disastrous repulse of Grant’s army. 

On the i st of June, the Sixth corps and most of the 
Eighteenth corps were directed by General Grant to 
move directly against the Confederate right, held by 
General Hoke’s and General Kershaw’s divisions. Gen¬ 
eral Hoke’s division contained Martin’s and Clingman’s 
North Carolina brigades. The Federals made the 
assault with vigor and without reserves. This attack was 
everywhere repulsed except at Hoke’s extreme left and 
Kershaw’s right. Clingman held Hoke’s left, and it 
has been stated that his brigade and that of Wofford’s, of 
Kershaw’s division, were both broken. General Cling¬ 
man in a letter to the Richmond papers, dated June 5, 
1864, denied the allegation. He says: “This attack 
was repeatedly and signally repulsed with great loss to 
the enemy on my entire front. Near our left where 
they came in columns their dead were much thicker than 
I have ever seen them on any battlefield. . . . There 
was, however, at the beginning of the engagement a bri¬ 
gade from another State than my own, stationed on our 
left. This brigade did give way, and while the contest 
was going on in our front, the enemy in large force occu¬ 
pied the ground on our left flank and rear. After we had 
repulsed the last attack in front, and the men were cheer¬ 
ing along the line, the Eighth regiment, which formed my 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


253 


left, was suddenly attacked on its left flank and rear. 
The woods there being thick and the smoke dense, the 
enemy had approached within a few yards and opened a 
heavy fire on the rear of the Eighth as well as its left. 
... It, by facing in two directions, attempted to hold its 
position, and thus lost about two-thirds of its numbers.” 
He further states that the Sixty-first regiment came to 
the aid of the Eighth, and that his brigade, assisted by 
the Twenty-seventh Georgia, drove back the Federal 
flank attack, and still held its entire front of the works. 

The part of the line captured on Clingman’s left was 
held by the Federals and the Confederates intrenched 
behind it. The loss of the two attacking corps was 2,200 
men. 

That afternoon General Lee telegraphed to the secre¬ 
tary of war: ‘ ‘ This afternoon the enemy attacked Gen¬ 

eral Heth and were handsomely repulsed by Cooke’s and 
Kirkland’s brigades.” 

On the afternoon of the 2d, the divisions of Gordon, 
Rodes and Heth were ordered to move down the front 
of the Confederate line in an effort to break the Federal 
flank. “This movement brought on sharp fighting,” 
says Humphreys, “but did not accomplish what was de¬ 
signed.” General Early reports that his men took sev¬ 
eral hundred prisoners. Early intrenched on his front, 
and thus the new lines were almost at right angles. 
Hill’s corps and Breckinridge’s men were moved to 
Hoke’s right to meet the massing of Federal troops on 
that flank. 

On the morning of the 3d, General Grant ordered an 
assault by his entire army. The Confederates nerved 
themselves for stern work all along the line. The Fed¬ 
erals advanced in many lines. Captain Lawhorn says: 
“One line would fire and fall down, another step over 
and fall down, each line getting nearer us until they got 
within 60 or 75 yards of our lines, but finding themselves 
cut to pieces so badly they fell back.” The account of 


/ 



CD4 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

this assault as given by Federal officers taking part in it 
show the terribly destructive fire of the Southern muskets. 
General Humphreys says: “The assaulting was done 
by the Second, Sixth and Eighteenth corps. Promptly 
at the hour these corps advanced to the attack under 
heavy musketry and artillery fire, and carried the ene¬ 
my’s advanced rifle-pits. But then the fire became still 
hotter, and cross-fires of artillery swept through the 
ranks, from the right of Smith to the left of Hancock. 
Notwithstanding this destructive fire, the troops went for¬ 
ward close up to the main line of intrenchments, but not 
being able to carry them, quickly put themselves under 
cover. ’ ’ 

General McMahon says: “The time of actual advance 
was not over eight minutes. In that little period more 
men fell bleeding as they advanced than in any other like 
period of time throughout the war. A strange and ter¬ 
rible feature of this battle was that as the three gallant 
corps moved on, each was enfiladed while receiving the 
full force of the enemy’s direct fire in front. ’’ The total 
number of Grant’s killed and wounded, again using 
Humphreys’ figures, was 5,600, and he adds, “It is prob¬ 
able, indeed, that the numbers were considerably larger. ” 

These great battles had brought to their graves many 
gallant spirits among the North Carolina troops. Gen¬ 
erals Daniel and Gordon, Cols. J. H. Wood, C. L. An¬ 
drews, Edmund Brabble, C. C. Blacknall, C. M. Avery, 
W. M. Barbour, John G. Jones, A. D. Moore, W. H. A. 
Speer, J. R. Murchison, Majs. J. J. Iredell, J. A. Rog¬ 
ers, and perhaps other field officers whose name sought 
to be recorded, gave up their lives for the cause they 
loved. Deaths and consequent promotions brought, of 
course, changes in the brigade and regimental commands. 
General Ramseur became a major-general. Bryan 
Grimes, W. R. Cox, William MacRae, gallant soldiers, 
all received worthily-won commissions as brigadier-gen¬ 
erals. 







CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 255 

The great “Overland campaign” was ended, and 
Grant was still no nearer Richmond than McClellan had 
been in 1862. In a few days he moved his army toward 
Petersburg. “The object of crossing the James was to 
carry out the plan with which the army of the Potomac 
began the campaign, that is, to destroy the lines of sup¬ 
ply to the Confederate depot, Richmond, on the south 
side of the James, as close to that city as practicable, after 
those on the north side had been rendered useless.”* If 
Petersburg could be captured, but one railroad leading 
into the city of Richmond would be in Confederate 
hands. 

Just after the disappearance of the Union army from 
Lee’s front at Cold Harbor, General Hoke’s division was 
sent back to Petersburg to assist General Beauregard in 
the defenses around that city. It arrived just in time to 
be of most signal service. 

On the 13th of June, General Early, commanding 
Ewell’s corps, was directed to take his command and 
move to the valley of Virginia, to meet Hunter. The 
North Carolina troops that followed Early up and down 
the valley, and shared in all the hardships of a campaign 
that had its full share of successes and reverses, were as 
follows: The Thirty-second, Fifty-third, Forty-third, 
Forty-fifth regiments and Second battalion, of Gen. Bryan 
Grimes’ brigade; the First, Second, Third, Fourth, 
Fourteenth and Twenty-third regiments and First bat¬ 
talion, of Gen. R. D. Johnston’s brigade; the Sixth, 
Twenty-first, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-seventh regiments, 
of Gen. A. C. Godwin’s brigade (General Lewis’, com¬ 
manded, after his wounding, by Godwin). Gen. Robert 
Ransom was sent to command the cavalry in the valley. 
The Sixtieth North Carolina cavalry was in Wharton’s 
command. 

Early’s corps was engaged in skirmishes at Lynchburg 
and Martinsburg, demonstrated against Harper’s Ferry, 


* Campaign of 1864 and 1865. 



256 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and on the 9th of June fought the battle of Monocacy. 
At Monocacy the Federals were commanded by Gen. 
Lew Wallace, since famous as the author of Ben Hur. 
General Rodes’ division, including the brigades of Grimes 
and Cox, was posted on the right of Ramseur, who was 
in front of Wallace. McCausland, followed by Gordon’s 
division, crossed the Monocacy and struck the Federal 
flank, and with the aid of artillery threw it in confusion 
and drove Wallace from his position. Ramseur then 
crossed, as did Rodes, and followed up the advantage. 
The brigades of Johnston and Lewis were in Ramseur’s 
command. The Confederates captured between 600 and 
700 prisoners, and lost about 700. 

Early then marched to Rockville, and by the nth was 
in sight of Fort Stevens, one of the works of the Wash¬ 
ington defenses. Grimes’ skirmishers were in front, and 
doubtless were nearer Washington than any other Con¬ 
federate troops during the war. The defenses were too 
strong for Early’s command to attack. The spires of 
the city were in plain view, and the presence of Confed¬ 
erate troops so near created quite a panic in the capital. 
After a consultation with his division commanders, Gen¬ 
eral Early determined to spend the 12th in front of the 
city, and then to retire that night. During the afternoon 
a reconnoitering force from the city was driven back by 
Rodes’ advance guard. 

On the morning of the 17th, the Confederates recrossed 
the Shenandoah. On the 18th, the Federals, following 
Early’s retirement, through Snicker’s gap, made a dash 
at Parker’s ford. On the 19th, Col. W. A. Owens was 
killed in a skirmish. Rodes’ division, however, drove 
the Federal advance back. In this skirmish, Col. Joseph 
H. Wood, commanding the Fourth regiment, was killed. 
On the 20th, Ramseur’s division, while moving, was 
assailed in flank by Averell, then advancing in line of 
battle. The division was thrown into much confusion 
and hastily fell back. Jackson’s cavalry, however, made 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


257 


a vigorous charge, and Ramseur rallied his men in time 
to prevent Averell from reaching Winchester. General 
Lewis was wounded in this affair. At the battle of 
Kernstown, it fell to Rodes’ lot to follow the enemy’s 
flight for some miles, but most of the North Carolinians 
had little fighting there. 

The morning of the 19th of September found General 
Early’s forces much divided. Rodes was at Stephen¬ 
son’s depot, Breckinridge and Gordon at Bunker Hill, 
and Ramseur at Winchester. Sheridan, now in command 
of the Federal Valley army, determined to take advan¬ 
tage of this dispersion, and bore down in full force on 
Ramseur, before it was fully light. Johnston’s North 
Carolina brigade seems to have had an advanced position, 
and was the first to encounter Sheridan. Gen. Bradley 
Johnson gives this graphic picture of what followed: 
“By daylight, the 19th of September, a scared cavalry¬ 
man of my own command nearly rode over me as I lay 
asleep on the grass, and reported that the Yankees were 
advancing with a heavy force of infantry, artillery and 
cavalry up the Berryville road. Johnston and I were 
responsible for keeping Sheridan out of Winchester, and 
protecting the Confederate line of retreat and commu¬ 
nication up the valley. In two minutes the command 
was mounted and moving at a trot across the open fields 
to the Berryville road to Johnston’s assistance. There 
was not a fence nor a bush nor a tree to obscure the 
view. We could see the crest of a hill covered with a 
cloud of cavalry, and in front of them, 500 yards for¬ 
ward was a thin gray line moving off in retreat solidly and 
with perfect coolness and self-possession. A regiment of 
cavalry would deploy into line, and then their bugles 
would sound ‘the charge,’ and they’d swoop down on 
the ‘thin gray line’ of North Carolina. The instant the 
Yankee bugles sounded, North Carolina would halt, face 
by the rear rank, wait until the horse got within 100 
yards, and then fire deliberately and coolly as if firing 

Nc 33 


258 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


volleys on brigade drill. The cavalry would break and 
scamper back, and North Carolina would ‘about face,* 
and continue her march in retreat as solemnly and with 
as much dignity as if marching in review.” Johnston’s 
brigade, on reaching the rest of the division, united with 
it in forming line at right angles to the pike west of Win¬ 
chester. Then this division, numbering only 2,560 men, 
had, aided by Nelson’s artillery and the cavalry, the 
disagreeable duty of fighting Sheridan’s force, number¬ 
ing, according to the official returns quoted by General 
Early, about 53,000 men, from daylight until 10 o’clock, 
when Rodes and Gordon arrived. Of course, Ramseur 
could not have held his position had the Federals been 
aware that his division was there alone. Rodes and 
Gordon came in on Ramseur’s left, and were at once 
thrown on the flank of the attacking columns, and for 
awhile drove everything before them. In the charge, 
General Rodes, one of the most promising officers and 
accomplished soldiers in Lee’s army, was killed, as was 
also Brigadier-General Godwin, an earnest and conscien¬ 
tious soldier. Late in the afternoon, however, the Fed¬ 
eral cavalry in heavy force broke through Early’s left 
flank and rear. This, with a second front attack, threw 
Early’s army into confusion, and it retired to Fisher’s 
Hill. Ramseur’s division, which General Early says 
maintained its organization, covered the retreat. The 
total Federal loss was, according to official returns, 5,018. 
The Confederate killed and wounded are reported at 
1,707.* Among the wounded were Colonel Cobb and 
Colonel Thruston. 

General Ramseur succeeded Rodes in command of his 
veteran division, and Pegram took charge of Early’s old 
division that Ramseur had been commanding. General 
Breckinridge’s command was sent to southwestern Vir¬ 
ginia. 

On withdrawing from Fisher’s Hill, Cox’s brigade hand- 


* Rebellion Records, XLIII, 557. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


259 


somely repulsed the portion of the Federal army that 
was pressing the rear. At Cedar creek, General Ker¬ 
shaw’s command returned to General Early. 

Sheridan having fallen back, Early moved forward 
again to Fisher’s Hill. Then by a flank movement, Gor¬ 
don, Pegram and Ramseur moved all night, and at dawn 
attacked Sheridan’s left flank and rear on Cedar creek. 
Wharton and Kershaw, with all the artillery, made the 
front attack. At the opening of the battle, Sheridan was 
returning to his army after a trip to Washington. The 
Federal army was surprised and routed. But no organ¬ 
ized pursuit was made. General Sheridan gives the fol¬ 
lowing account of the condition of his army: “At Mill 
creek my escort fell behind, and we were going ahead at 
a regular pace when just as we made the crest of the rise 
beyond the stream, there burst upon our view the appall¬ 
ing spectacle of a panic-stricken army — hundreds of 
slightly-wounded men, throngs of others unhurt, but 
utterly demoralized, and wagons by the score, all press¬ 
ing to the rear in hopeless confusion, telling only too 
plainly that a disaster had occurred at the front. On 
accosting some of the fugitives, they assured me that the 
army was broken up, in full retreat, and that all was 
lost ’ ’ 

Sheridan’s return and the delay of Confederate pursuit 
gave the Federals opportunity to recover and reorganize. 
Learning that the Confederate force was not so strong 
as anticipated, Sheridan prepared for offensive work. 
About 3 o’clock, he set a new battle in order against 
Early. Ramseur’s men were posted behind a rock fence. 
Grimes and Cox repelled all attacks on them, but the left 
of Early’s line gave way in disorder. General Grimes 
says that up to that time no serious break occurred on the 
left, and that his men had been kept well in hand and 
fought successfully. The rout of the left, however, 
affected the right, and that also gave way. In rallying 
his men, and exposing himself daringly, General Ram- 


260 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


seur was mortally wounded. Gen. Bryan Grimes suc¬ 
ceeded to the command of the division. Early lost all 
the captures he had made except 1,300 prisoners that 
were brought off the field. The Federal loss in this 
battle, including prisoners, was 5,665. There seems to 
be no report of Confederate losses. General Early states 
in his “Early in the Valley” that his loss was 1,860 casu¬ 
alties, and 1,000 prisoners. 

The death of General Ramseur removed a soldier who 
had risen rapidly and deservedly. A graduate of West 
Point, he had entered the army in charge of a battery 
that made itself an honored name. Then transferred to 
command the Forty-ninth regiment, he so impressed the 
Confederate commanders that promotion to command a 
brigade and then a division soon followed. General 
Early in his book on the Valley campaign bears this 
tribute to his merits: “He was a most gallant and ener¬ 
getic officer, whom no disaster appalled, but his energy 
and courage seemed to gain'new strength in the midst of 
confusion and disorder. He fell at his post fighting like 
a lion at bay, and his native State has reason to be proud 
of his memory. ” 

Shortly after this battle, the North Carolina troops 
were returned to General Lee, and took their part in 
the dreary service in the trenches around Petersburg. 

During the movement of General Lee’s army from 
Cold Harbor, and for a month thereafter, the cavalry was 
given little rest. On the 7th of June, Barringer’s bri¬ 
gade, now composed of the First, Second, Third and 
Fifth regiments, was stationed along the fords of the 
Chickahominy, and was engaged in skirmishes at Malvern 
hill, Herring creek and the Rocks. When the Federals 
made an effort to destroy the Weldon railroad, just below 
Petersburg, Barringer’s troopers had a hot fight. The 
First, Second and Third regiments were dismounted, and 
with McGregor’s guns poured a volley into Barlow’s 
division. This produced a momentary panic, and Colonel 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


261 


Baker, of the Third regiment, rushed upon the Federals 
and captured many prisoners. The Federals, however, 
rallied, and in turn captured Colonel Baker. 

The famous Kautz-Wilson raid for the destruction of 
the southward railroads was the occasion of severe cavalry 
activity and battles. At “Blacks and Whites,” Gen. 
W. H. F. Lee managed to get between the two Federal 
columns on the 23d of June. General Dearing was in the 
lead. His brigade, a small one, included the Fourth and 
Sixth North Carolina cavalry. This brigade was about 
to be overpowered when Barringer’s brigade galloped to 
its relief. Major Cowles dismounted the First regiment 
and sent that to the guns. Maj. W. P. Roberts, of the 
Second regiment, reached the Federal rear, and the bat¬ 
tle was sharp for some hours. At nightfall the Federals 
retired. Col. C. M. Andrews, one of North Carolina’s 
best cavalry officers, was killed. 

At Staunton river bridge, guarded by Junior and 
Senior reserves and disabled soldiers, Kautz’s attack 
was repulsed, Lee’s cavalry attacking his rear. Col. 
H. E. Coleman, of the Twelfth North Carolina regiment, 
rendered gallant service in assisting the raw troops in 
the repulse of the cavalry division at this bridge. He 
was at home wounded and volunteered his services. So 
freely did he expose himself, that he was again wounded, 
but did not then leave the field. This raiding party 
before it reached Meade lost all its artillery, wagon 
trains, and hundreds of prisoners. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


AROUND PETERSBURG—BEAUREGARD’S MASTERLY 
DEFENSE—LEE’S ARMY IN PLACE AND GRANT IS 
FOILED—THE ATTEMPT OF GRANT TO BLOW UP 
THE FORTIFICATIONS—BATTLE OF THE “CRATER” 
—THE DREARY TRENCHES—REAMS’ STATION—THE 
FORT HARRISON ASSAULT—THE CAVALRY. 


A FTER being foiled at Cold Harbor, General Grant 
determined to change his base to the south side of 
the James, and break the Confederate communica¬ 
tions with the South. This plan had been previously 
proposed by McClellan, but rejected. Its danger to 
the Confederacy is shown by General Lee’s assuring 
Richmond friends, some time before, that the people of 
that city might go to their beds without misgivings so 
long as the Federals assailed the capital from the north 
and east, and left undisturbed his communications with 
the Carolinas. Those sources of supply and reinforce¬ 
ment were now to be attempted. 

From June 4th to nth Grant’s army was engaged 
in its mobilization on the banks of the Chickahominy. 
Wilson’s well-organized cavalry corps and Warren’s infan¬ 
try corps were to threaten Richmond directly, and thus 
mask the movement on Petersburg. By midnight of the 
16th of June, the army with all its artillery and trains 
was over the James. General Smith’s corps was given 
the right of way over all other troops. On the 14th he 
reported to General Butler at Bermuda Hundred. But¬ 
ler directed him to attack Petersburg at daylight. His 
corps was strengthened for the attack by the addition of 
Kautz’ cavalry and Hinks’ negro division. These addi¬ 
tions gave Smith, according to General Humphreys, chief 


262 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


263 


of staff of the army of the Potomac, 16, ioo men. Hancock’s 
corps immediately followed Smith, and in his attack ren¬ 
dered him material assistance by relieving his men in the 
captured works. 

At the opening of the assaults on Beauregard’s works 
around Petersburg, the men holding those works num¬ 
bered only 5,400. These were gradually, by the arrival 
of Ransom’s brigade and Hoke’s division, and a few 
other troops, increased to 11,000 effectives. General 
Grant continually added to the two corps in front until, 
according to Colonel Roman’s figures, at least 90,000 men 
were pressing daily against Beauregard. Colonel Roman 
says: “With such fearful and almost incredible odds 
against him, General Beauregard, from the 15th to the 
18th of June, maintained a successful barrier to the 
Federal advance—a feat of war almost without a prece¬ 
dent, in which the courage and the endurance of the 
troops, no less than the skill with which the commander 
used his small resources, were fully as conspicuous as 
the good fortune that lent itself to such a result. ’ ’ * 

General Badeau, in his military history of General 
Grant, offers this explanation of the failure of the great 
army to dispatch Beauregard: “Then, indeed, when all 
their exertions had proved fruitless, when, having out¬ 
marched and out-maneuvered Lee, the soldiers found 
themselves again obliged to assault intrenched positions 
—then they seemed in some degree to lose heart, and 
for the first time since the campaign began, their attacks 
were lacking in vigor. ’ * 

As Smith moved forward, on the 15 th, his first opposi¬ 
tion came from a slight redan and works held by Graham’s 
battery and a small dismounted cavalry force under Dear- 
ing, “a young brigadier of high and daring spirit, and 
of much experience in war. ’ ’ Dearing made a resolute 
fight to delay Smith as long as possible, and then sul¬ 
lenly withdrew inside the main works. At this time Gen- 


* Life of Beauregard, vol. II, p. 227. 



264 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


eral Beauregard had only Wise’s brigade, 2,400 strong, 
and Dearing’s cavalry, within the lines. Smith’s attack 
met a heavy loss, but carried the line of redans from 
No. 5 to No. 9. Had this attack been more vigorously 
pushed, Petersburg must have fallen. 

On the 16th, Ransom’s brigade arrived at Petersburg. 
Judge Roulhac in his Regimental History says: “After 
marching all night of the 15th, we reached Petersburg 
about 8 o’clock in the morning, and were hurried to 
our fortifications on Avery’s farm. At a run we suc¬ 
ceeded in getting to the works before the enemy reached 
them. Through a storm of shot and shell we gained 
them, just in time to meet their charge and drive them 
back. In the afternoon we were hurried to Swift creek, and 
with the Fifty-sixth North Carolina, under Maj. John W. 
Graham, and Gracie’s brigade, drove back the Federal 
cavalry which had attempted to cut our communications 
with Richmond.” 

Martin’s and Clingman’s brigades, of Hoke’s division, 
also reached Petersburg on the 16th after forced marches, 
and were ready for their share of hard fighting on the 
16th. From the extreme right of the Confederate line 
held by Wise, to the left held by Hoke, was about five 
miles, so the men in gray had an attenuated line in these 
works. The engineers estimated that 25,000 were neces¬ 
sary to properly man these works. General Beaure¬ 
gard’s number on the morning of the 16th was, he states, 
10,000 men of all arms. Hancock and Smith were joined 
by Burnside’s corps about noon on the 16th, making an 
aggregate force of over 53,000 men. Warren’s corps, 
17,000 strong, reached Petersburg that night. Hancock, 
in command until General Meade’s arrival, assaulted all 
along the front in the afternoon of the 16th, and the North 
Carolina brigades had a day of arduous battle. The artil¬ 
lery also had a day of incessant activity. After an after¬ 
noon of desperate struggling, Birney’s division effected a 
lodgment. The contest ended only with darkness. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


265 


With the same disparity in numbers, another day of 
strife, attack and recoil, noise and bloodshed began on 
the 17th. At dawn, Potter carried a portion of the Con¬ 
federate line, where the Federals found the exhausted 
Confederates asleep with their guns in their hands. 
Willcox’s assault was, however, without success. Ledlie’s 
attack was partly successful, but his losses were great 
and his success short, for he was driven out and many 
prisoners taken. At midnight, the lines were still in 
Confederate hands. But General Beauregard, not know¬ 
ing that Longstreet’s corps was near at hand, ordered 
withdrawal to a new and shorter line that his engineers 
had constructed. New fires were lighted along the old 
line, and the withdrawal was effected without Federal 
knowledge. The men at once fortified the new line, using 
bayonets, knives and even tin cans as dirt removers. 
On the 18th, Longstreet’s advanced division got in place, 
and all assaults were repulsed with loss. These repeated 
assaults cost Grant’s army 8,150 men. Grant learned, as 
McCabe aptly quotes, that Petersburg “could not be 
taken by the collar. ’ ’ 

With the coming of the rest of Lee’s army, other North 
Carolina troops went into the trenches, as follows: 
Cooke’s brigade, MacRae’s brigade, Lane’s brigade, 
Scales’ brigade, and Williams’ and Cummings’ batteries. 
The four brigades in the valley were not recalled until 
the beginning of winter. 

Then followed the dreary, suffering, starving months 
in the trenches around Petersburg. Soldiers have never 
been called upon to endure more than the Confederate 
soldiers were there forced to stand, and to stand with a 
full knowledge that their distant homes were being ruth¬ 
lessly desolated, and that the pangs of hunger were press¬ 
ing cruelly upon their unprotected families. What Cap¬ 
tain Elliott says of Martin’s North Carolina brigade was, 
changing only the numbers, true of every brigade that 
there lived in the ground, walked in the wet ditches, ate 

Nc 34 


266 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in the ditches, slept in dirt-covered pits. He says: “At 
the beginning of the siege, June 20th, the report of Mar¬ 
tin’s brigade, occupying Colquitt’s salient, showed 2,200 
men for duty. In September, when they were relieved, 
the total force was 700 living skeletons. Occupying the 
sharp salient, the work was enfiladed on both flanks by 
direct fire, and the mortar shells came incessantly down 
from above. Every man was detailed every night, either 
on guard duty or to labor with pick and spade repair¬ 
ing works knocked down during the day. There was 110 
shelter that summer from sun or rain. No food could be 
cooked there, but the scanty provisions were brought 
in bags on the shoulders of men from the cook yards 
some miles distant. The rations 'consisted of one pound 
of pork and three pounds of meal for three days— 
no coffee, no sugar, no vegetables, no tobacco, no grog 
—nothing but the bread and meat. No wonder that the 
list of officers was reduced to three captains and a few 
lieutenants, with but one staff officer (spared through 
God’s mercy) to this brigade of 700 skeletons. But every 
feeble body contained an unbroken spirit, and after the 
fall months came, those who had not fallen into their 
graves or been disabled, returned to their colors, and 
saw them wave in victory in their last fight at Benton- 
ville. 

Scarcely more than 100 yards from the salient held by 
Elliott’s South Carolina brigade, which had Ransom’s 
North Carolina brigade on its left, Burnside constructed a 
line of rifle-pits. Colonel Pleasants, a mining engineer, 
secured Burnside’s approval of a plan to run a mine under 
the Elliott salient, blow it and its defenders in the air, 
attack by a heavy column in the confusion, and take the 
Confederate works. The mine was painstakingly exca¬ 
vated, charged with 8,000 pounds of powder, tamped 
with 8,000 sandbags, and on the 28th of July was ready 
to be sprung. 

At that time, only the divisions of Hoke, Johnson and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


267 


Mahone were in the trenches. The mine was under 
Johnson’s portion of the fortifications. Wise was on 
Elliott’s right, Ransom’s brigade under Colonel McAfee 
(Ransom being wounded) on his left. Hill’s corps, and 
most of Longstreet’s, had been sent north of the James 
to counteract Hancock and Sheridan, who were demon¬ 
strating against Richmond in order to draw Lee’s forces 
from the trenches, and thus insure the success of the 
attack that was to follow the destruction and confusion 
wrought by the explosion of the mine. 

All the siege and field artillery was to support the 
attack. Then, says McCabe, “Ledlie was to push through 
the breach straight for Cemetery hill. Willcox was to fol¬ 
low, and after passing the breach, deploy on the left and 
seize the Jerusalem plank road. Potter was to pass to 
the right and protect his flank, while Ferrero’s negro 
division, should Ledlie effect a lodgment on Cemetery 
hill, was to push beyond that point and immediately 
assault the town. ” 

The Confederates had detected the mining and had 
thrown up intrenchments at the gorge of the salient and 
traversed their works. 

At daylight on the 30th, the mine was fired. First a 

slight quake, then an erupted mass of earth, and a roar 

appalling followed. Next came a hail of stone, earth, 

wood, and mangled bodies, and a ragged chasm marked 

the place where the salient had stood. Two hundred 

and seventy-eight South Carolina officers and men, 

together with part of Pegram’s battery, were mangled to 

death in the upheaval and subsidence. Then every gun 

on the Federal line opened, and an unenthusiastic line of 

Ledlie’s division made unopposed headway toward the 

destroved works. These men filed into the crater and 
* 

filled it with a confused mass of disorganized troops. 
Their commander was not with them. The coming of a 
tangible enemy, however, aroused the Confederates, who 
had been thrown in consternation by the eruption. Gen- 


268 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


eral Elliott rushed to the breach, calling to his men to 
drive back the assailants. He was wounded, and Colonel 
McMaster took his brigade, sent to division commanders 
for reinforcements, and soon had his men firing into the 
excavation, or crater, where Ledlie’smen huddled. This 
excavation was 135 feet in length, 97 broad, and 30 
deep.* Potter’s, Willcox’s and Ferrero’s divisions of 
Burnside’s corps pushed after Ledlie, and then Ord was 
directed to join in the effort to break through the lines. 

Meanwhile, Haskell’s guns had been rushed up at a gal¬ 
lop and began to open; Flanner’s North Carolina battery 
from the Gee house, and Lamkins’ mortars on Flan¬ 
ner’s left. Wright’s battery of Coit’s battalion was also 
nobly served. These guns and a few regiments saved 
the day by repulsing all efforts to advance heavily from 
the crater. The shells bursting in the massed troops did 
great execution. Colonel McAfee sent the Twenty-first 
North Carolina regiment to McMaster, and this, with the 
Twenty-sixth South Carolina, formed in a ravine on the 
left and rear of the breach. The Twenty-fourth and 
Forty-ninth North Carolina regiments, also of Ransom’s 
brigade, closed in on Elliott’s brigade, continuing his 
line. These regiments in front and the two in rear met 
and drove back the charge along the trenches, says Gen¬ 
eral Johnson. “Two companies of the Forty-ninth North 
Carolina, posted in the covered way near the main line, 
poured a heavy volley on the flank of the enemy in rear, 
and our men of the Seventeenth North Carolina and 
Forty-ninth Carolina . . . drove back the charge along 
the trenches.’’ 

On the right, Wise’s men joined Elliott in grim resist¬ 
ance. The Sixty-first North Carolina regiment, sent by 
General Hoke to reinforce the troops engaged at the 
breach, arrived at the same time with two brigades of 
Mahone’s division. These reinforcements began to 
form in rear of Pegram’s salient to charge the Federals 


♦Johnson’s Report. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


269 


in the breach. While Mahone was still forming, the 
Federals advanced on him. “He,” says General John¬ 
son, “met their advance by a charge, in which the Twen¬ 
ty-fifth and Forty-ninth North Carolina regiments, and 
the Twenty-sixth and part of the Seventeenth South 
Carolina . . . gallantly joined, moving upon the left of 
General Mahone’s line. The enemy was driven from 
three-quarters of the trench cavalier and most of the 
works on the left of the crater, with moderate loss to our 
forces. . . . During this time a large number of the ene¬ 
my’s troops, black and white, abandoned the breach and 
fled precipitately to the rear. ’ ’ Three separate attempts 
were made before the Union soldiers were entirely dis¬ 
lodged. This charge, which General Johnson says gave 
him entire possession of the crater and adjacent lines, 
was made by Sanders’ brigade, of Mahone’s division, and 
by the Sixty-first North Carolina, Colonel Radcliffe, and 
the Seventeenth South Carolina.* Ransom’s front had 
been more than once assailed during the day, but no suc¬ 
cess attended such assaults. The only result of this 
novel warfare undertaken by General Burnside was the 
loss of 3,500 lives on the Federal side. 

On the 16th of August, Hancock’s corps being engaged 
in a demonstration in force to prevent aid going to Early, 
Birney took a part of the Confederate line at Fussell’s 
mill. Lane’s brigade, led by Colonel Barbour (General 
Lane absent, wounded), recaptured the intrenchments on 
the Darbytown road, in the presence of General Lee. 
General Clingman’s brigade took part in Mahone’s and 
Heth’s attack on Warren’s corps on the 19th. In this 
engagement, General Clingman was so seriously wounded 
that he was never again able to join his brigade. 

Hancock’s corps marched for the Weldon railroad on 
the 22d of August. That officer was to destroy the road to 
Rowanty creek. His force consisted of his first division, 
commanded by General Miles, his second division, under 


* Johnson’s Report. 



270 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


General Gibbon, and Gregg’s cavalry. By the 24th, Han¬ 
cock had destroyed the road nearly to Reams’ Station. 
This road was vital to the comfort of the Confederates. 
So A. P. Hill was directed to stop its destruction. 

Hill took with him the North Carolina brigades of 
Scales, Lane, Cooke, MacRae, and in addition, McGowan’s 
and Anderson’s brigades, and two of Mahone’s. On 
Hill’s approach, Hancock formed behind some old in- 
trenchments constructed in June. General Gibbon was 
posted in the left half of these, and General Miles occupied 
the right half. Gregg’s force was on the flank, and seems 
to have been partly dismounted and intrenched. 

The first attack of Hill, about 2 o’clock, seems to 
have been made only by the brigades of McGowan and 
Scales. They were repulsed. At 5 o’clock, General 
Hill sent forward three North Carolina brigades, Cooke’s, 
Lane’s (under General Conner) and MacRae’s, to make 
a second attempt. Captain Graham in his Regimental 
History states that the combined strength of the three 
brigades was only 1,750. These brigades dashed forward 
with great spirit upon Miles’ line. Miles’ men made, in 
part, a good resistance. They were, however, forced to 
give way in confusion. General Cooke stated that the 
first colors planted on the captured works were those of 
the Twenty-seventh North Carolina in the hands of 
Sergt. Roscoe Richards. Gibbon’s division was ordered 
to retake the works, but failed signally. Hampton, dis¬ 
mounting his men, attacked on the left and forced Gregg’s 
cavalry back to a new line that Hancock established. 

This was one of the most brilliant events toward the 
close of that gloomy summer. General Hill’s loss in killed 
and wounded was 720. He captured 12 stand of colors, 
9 guns, and 3,100 stand of arms. General Lee, in a let¬ 
ter to Governor Vance, dated August 29th, writes: “I 
have been frequently called upon to mention the services 
of North Carolina troops in this army, but their gallantry 
and conduct were never more deserving of admiration 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


271 


than in the engagement at Reams’ Station on the 25th 
instant. The brigades of Cooke, MacRae and Lane, the 
last under the temporary command of General Conner, 
advanced . . . and carried the enemy’s works with 
a steady courage that elicited the warm commendation of 
their corps and division commanders, and the admiration 
of the army. ’' 

On the 30th of September, Clingman’s brigade was 
engaged in the desperate attempt to recapture Fort Har¬ 
rison, and lost in that unfortunate assault more men than 
it had lost in weeks in the trenches. 

Lane’s and MacRae’s brigades formed a part of A. P. 
Hill’s force in his attack on Warren at Jones’ farm on 
September 30th. There Major Wooten’s skirmish line 
greatly distinguished itself, and the two brigades made 
many captures. On the 9th, Hoke and Field, supported 
by Lane and Gary’s cavalry, dispersed a large cavalry 
force under Kautz and captured all his guns. 

In all the movements around Petersburg, the cavalry 
under Hampton and Dearing, both full of fight and dash, 
was untiringly engaged. Many changes had occurred in 
the old North Carolina brigade. Gen. Rufus Barringer 
commanded the brigade, Colonel Cheek the First regi¬ 
ment, Col. W. P. Roberts the Second, Colonel Baker 
(until his capture) the Third, Maj. J. H. McNeill the 
Fifth. . Dearing’s independent brigade included the 
Fourth under Colonel Ferebee, and the Sixteenth battal¬ 
ion under Lieut. -Col. J. T. Kennedy. 

The brigade of Barringer was engaged at Fisher’s, 
White Oak swamp and White’s tavern. At White Oak 
swamp, after General Chambliss was killed, Gen. W. H. 
F. Lee formed a new line with the First and Second 
regiments and made good his battle. On the 21st of 
August, all four of Barringer’s regiments were engaged 
with Mahone on the Weldon road. After a preliminary 
success, the cavalry was forced to follow the retirement 
of the infantry. 


272 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


At Reams’ Station, Gen. W. H. F. Lee was about sick 
and General Barringer commanded his division, Col. 
W. H. Cheek commanding Barringer’s brigade. The 
whole command was actively engaged, and materially 
aided in the victory gained. At McDowell Junction, on 
the 27th of September, at Jones’ farm, Gravelly run 
and Hargrove’s house, the brigade was engaged with 
varying success, but with continuous pugnacity. 

In November Hampton made his “cattle raid,’’ and 
dashing in at Grant’s depot, City Point, drove off over 
2,000 head of cattle. This raid was admirably planned 
and as admirably executed. On the return the North 
Carolina brigade had a brisk rear-guard action at Belcher’s 
mill. 

On the 8th of December, when the North Carolina 
Senior and Junior reserves so admirably defended the 
Weldon railroad bridge near Belfield, the pursuit was 
conducted by General Barringer, and he states that two 
squadrons of the First regiment, commanded by Captain 
Dewey, made a splendid mounted charge. General Bar¬ 
ringer puts the losses in his brigade for this campaign as 
follows: Killed, 99; wounded, 378; missing and captured, 
127; total, 604. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


THE NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENTS IN TENNESSEE 
AND GEORGIA CAMPAIGNS, 1864—EVENTS IN NORTH 
CAROLINA —FORT FISHER —THE CLOSE OF THE 
FOURTH YEAR—NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS IN 
ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1865—BATTLES NEAR 
PETERSBURG —HATCHER’S RUN —FORT STEDMAN 
—APPOMATTOX. 

HE limits of this sketch of the North Carolina troops 



forbid a detailed account of the services of the four 


1 regiments in the Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. 
These regiments were, so far as official reports seem to 
show, the Twenty-ninth, Lieut.-Col. B. S. Proffitt; the 
Thirty-ninth, Col. D. Coleman; the Fifty-eighth, Maj. 
T. F. Dula, and the Sixtieth, Col. J. B. Palmer. For 
awhile Colonel Palmer was in command of Reynolds’ bri¬ 
gade. During his absence, that regiment was com¬ 
manded by Lieut.-Col. J. T. Weaver, whose gallant life 
was given up for his State. 

Through all the trying marches, hungry days and 
nights, stubborn fighting and nerve-testing vicissitudes, 
these noble men kept close to their colors, and illustrated 
by their patient endurance and cheerful obedience that 
they were of the heroic clay from which soldiers are made. 

After Hoke’s division was recalled from New Bern to 
engage with Beauregard’s army at Drewry’s bluff, there 
were no military operations, except of minor importance, 
in North Carolina, until the first attack on Fort Fisher. 

Colonel Lamb, the heroic defender of the fort, thus 
describes his works: “At this time Fort Fisher extended 
across the peninsula 682 yards, a continuous work, mount¬ 
ing twenty heavy guns, and having two mortars and four 


No 33 


273 


274 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


pieces of light artillery. The sea face was 1,898 yards in 
length, consisting of batteries connected by a heavy cur¬ 
tain and ending in the mound battery 60 feet high, mount¬ 
ing in all twenty-four heavy guns, including one 
170-pound Blakely rifled gun and one 130-pound Arm¬ 
strong rifled gun. At the extreme end of the point was 
Battery Buchanan with four heavy guns. ” 

General Whiting and Colonel Lamb had both expended 
much labor and ingenuity in perfecting the defenses of 
this fort. Wilmington was the port into which the block¬ 
ade runners were bringing so large a portion of the sup¬ 
plies necessary for the Confederacy that General Lee 
said if Fort Fisher fell he could not subsist his army. 
This thought nerved Lamb to prolonged resistance. 

The garrison, when the Federal fleet arrived on Decem¬ 
ber 20th, consisted of five companies of the Thirty-sixth 
North Carolina (artillery) regiment. General Whiting, in 
command of the department, entered the fort as soon as 
it was threatened. Major Reilly, of the Tenth regiment 
(artillery), with two of his companies also reported there. 
Colonel Lamb states that the total effective force on 
December 25th was 1,431, consisting "of 921 regulars, 
about 450 Junior reserves, and 60 sailors and marines. 

The “powder-ship” Louisiana, loaded with 250 tons of 
powder, was headed for the fort, and exploded on the 
night of the 23d. This explosion, however, proved harm¬ 
less. Then, on the 24th, the fleet approached for bom¬ 
bardment. Colonel Lamb thus tells his experience under 
that fire: “The fleet, consisting of the Ironsides, four 
monitors and forty-five wooden steam frigates, com¬ 
menced a terrific bombardment. . . . For five hours a 
tremendous hail of shot and shell was poured upon 
the works with but little effect. At 5 130 the fleet with¬ 
drew. . . . Some 10,000 shot and shell were fired by the 
fleet. The fort being obliged to husband its ammuni¬ 
tion, fired only 672 projectiles. , . . Only 23 men were 
wounded. ’ ’ 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


275 


General Butler determined to make a second attempt. 
So on Christmas day at 10:30 a. m., the fleet, reinforced 
by one more monitor and some additional wooden steam¬ 
ers, began another bombardment. Colonel Lamb tells 
the result: “At 5 :3o p. m., a most terrific enfilading fire 
against the land face and palisade commenced, unparal¬ 
leled in severity. Admiral Porter reported it at 130 shot 
and shell per minute, more than two every second. The 
men were required to protect themselves behind the trav¬ 
erses; the extra men were sent to the bombproofs with 
orders to rally to the ramparts as soon as the firing 
ceased. As soon as this fire commenced, a line of skir¬ 
mishers advanced toward the works. When the firing 
ceased, the guns were manned and opened with grape 
and canister, and the palisade was manned by two vet¬ 
erans and Junior reserves. No assault was made. Our 
casualties for the day, were, killed 5, wounded 33. In the 
afternoon both of the 7-inch Brooke rifles exploded. . . . 
five other guns were disabled by the enemy. . . . There 
were only 3,600 shot and shell exclusive of grape and 
shrapnel in the works. . . . Except when special orders 
were given the guns were only fired every half hour. In 
the two days, the frigates Minnesota and Colorado fired 
3,551 shot and shell, almost as many as were in all the 
batteries of Fort Fisher.” 

With this second experience, General Butler retired, 
and the fort had a respite until January. The expedition 
had been fitted out elaborately and was unusually strong. 
Captain Selfridge, who commanded one of Butler’s ships, 
says: “The navy department was able to concentrate 
before Fort Fisher a larger force than had ever before 
assembled under one command in the history of the 
American navy—a total of nearly sixty vessels. ’ ’ The 
total number of guns and howitzers, according to 
the computation of the editors of “Battles and Leaders,” 
was over 6 oo, and the total weight of projectiles at a 
single discharge of all the guns was over 22 tons. The 


276 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


retirement of this great armament without accomplish¬ 
ing anything was a great disappointment to the Federal 
authorities. Captain Selfridge says: “Words cannot 
express the bitter feeling and chagrin of the navy.” 

When it became evident to the Confederate govern¬ 
ment that Fisher was to be attacked, General Hoke’s 
division was ordered to its relief, reaching Wilmington 
on the 24th of December, and the advanced regiments 
arrived at Fisher on the same day. Butler, having 
landed a force on the ocean side, the Seventeenth North 
Carolina was withdrawn from the fort on the 25th and 
ordered to attack. As General Butler withdrew his men, 
only a skirmish occurred. General Bragg was in chief 
command in the State. Evidently not expecting a sec¬ 
ond attack, he withdrew Hoke from Sugar Loaf, and the 
division went into camp near Wilmington, sixteen miles 
from Fisher. 

But General Terry, with about the same force that 
General Butler had commanded, except that it was rein¬ 
forced by two negro brigades, was ordered to retrieve the 
first reverse. On the 14th of January, Terry landed 
8,500 men without opposition, and that night, moving 
across the peninsula, constructed a line of field works 
from the ocean to Cape Fear river, thereby cutting off 
all land communication between the fort and General 
Bragg’s command. No effort of any importance seems 
to have been made by the commanding general to assist 
the doomed fort. After the first bombardment, five 
companies of the Thirty-sixth regiment (artillery) 
returned from Georgia and took their old place in the gar¬ 
rison. The total force there, after the return of these 
men, was about 1,900. 

“All day and all night on the 13th and 14th [of Janu¬ 
ary],” says Colonel Lamb, “the fleet kept up a ceaseless 
and terrific bombardment. ... It was impossible to 
repair damage at night. No meals could be prepared 
for the exhausted garrison; the dead could not be buried 



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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


277 


without new casualties. Fully 200 had been killed dur¬ 
ing these two days, and only three or four of the land 
guns remained serviceable. ’ ’ 

Then the land forces approached nearer and nearer by 
pits and shelter, and the assault began. Most desper¬ 
ately did General Whiting, Colonel Lamb, and all their 
officers and men fight for the important fort; frequently 
did they signal for the aid they sorely needed. General 
Whiting and Colonel Lamb were both severely wounded. 
On the 15th, after exhausting every energy, the fort was 
surrendered. The Federal loss is stated at 1,445. The 
garrison lost about 500. Few more gallant defenses 
against such odds are recorded. General Whiting died 
shortly after in a Northern prison. 

The winter around Petersburg was the worst one of 
the four years of the war, to the North Carolina troops, as 
well as to all of Lee’s army. The gloom of despondency 
was fast settling upon the army that had defied so many 
perils. It was now known that there was not meat enough 
in the Southern Confederacy for the armies it had in the 
field; that there was not in Virginia either meat or 
bread enough for the armies within her limits; that meat 
must be obtained from abroad. 

But by heavy drafts upon North Carolina, food was 
sent to the armies in Virginia, and by February of 1865, 
their condition was somewhat improved. Reserve depots 
were established at Lynchburg, Danville and Greensboro. 
Even then new difficulties appeared, for the railroads 
were so poorly equipped that they could not haul rations 
as fast as the armies consumed them. Wagons had to 
make regular trips to supplement the worn-out trains. 

At the opening of the spring campaign, the following 
North Carolina troops were present in the army of 
Northern Virginia: In Gen. Bryan Grimes’ division 
were the First North Carolina, Maj. L. C. Latham; the 
Second, Maj. J. T. Scales; the Third, Maj. W. T. En- 
nett; the Fourth, Capt. J. B. Forcum; the Fourteenth, 


278 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Lieut.-Col. W. A. Johnston; the Thirtieth, Capt. D. C. 
Allen; allot Gen.W. R. Cox’s brigade; the Thirty-second, 
Capt. P. C. Shurord; the Forty-third, Capt. W. J. Cobb; 
the Forty-fifth, Col. J. R. Winston; the Fifty-third, Capt. 
T. E. Ashcraft, and the Second North Carolina battalion, 
all of Grimes’ old brigade, commanded by Col. D. G. 
Cowand. In other divisions—Walker’s, Heth’s, Wilcox’s 
and Johnson’s—were the Fifth, Col. J. W. Lea; the 
Twelfth, Capt. Plato Durham; the Twentieth, Lieut. 
A. F. Lawhon; the Twenty-third, Capt. A. D. Peace; 
the First battalion, Lieut. R. W. Woodruff; all of 
Gen. R. D. Johnston’s brigade; the Sixth, Capt. 
J. H. Dickey; the Twenty-first, Capt. J. H. Miller; the 
Fifty-fourth; the Fifty*seventh, Capt. John Beard; all of 
General Lewis’ brigade; the Eleventh, Col. W. J. Mar¬ 
tin; the Twenty-sixth, Lieut.-Col. J. T. Adams; the 
Forty-fourth, Maj. C. M. Stedman; the Forty-seventh; 
the Fifty-second, Lieut.-Col. Eric Erson, of Gen. Wil¬ 
liam MacRae’s brigade; the Fifteenth, Col. W. H. Yar¬ 
borough; the Twenty-seventh, Lieut.-Col. J. C. Webb; 
the Forty-sixth, Col. W. L. Saunders; the Forty-eighth, 
Col. S. H. Walkup; the Fifty-fifth, Capt. W. A. Whit- 
ted; all of Gen. J. R. Cooke’s brigade; the Eighteenth, 
Maj. T. J. Wooten; the Twenty-eighth, Capt. J. T. Line- 
barger; the Thirty-third, Col. R. V. Cowan; the Thirty- 
seventh, Maj. J. L. Bost; all of Gen. J. H. Lane’s brigade; 
the Thirteenth, Lieut.-Col. E. B. Withers; the Sixteenth, 
Col. W. A. Stowe; the Twenty-second, Col. T. D. Gal¬ 
loway; the Thirty-fourth, Lieut.-Col. G. M. Norment; 
the Thirty-eighth, Col. John Ashford; all of General 
Scales’ brigade; the Twenty-fourth; the Twenty-fifth, 
Col. H. M. Rutledge; the Thirty-fifth, Maj. R. E. 
Petty; the Forty-ninth, Maj. C. Q. Petty; the Fifty- 
sixth, Col. P. F. Faison; all of Gen. M. W. Ransom’s 
brigade. The First, Second, Third and Fifth North 
Carolina cavalry, composed Gen. Rufus Barringer’s 
brigade; the Fourth and Sixteenth battalion, Gen. W. P. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


279 


Roberts’ brigade. * The following batteries are reported: 
Capt. H. G. Flanner’s, Capt. John Ramsey’s, Capt. A. B. 
Williams’ and Capt. Guion’s. 

To break up the wagon trains that were thought to aid 
in supplying the Confederate army, General Grant 
ordered the Second and Fifth corps to move on Hatcher’s 
run. Portions of the Sixth and Ninth corps were after¬ 
ward sent to reinforce the Second and Fifth. February 
6th, General Lee, being apprised of this threat to his right, 
arranged for parts of Gordon’s and Hill’s corps to meet 
it. The Federal corps, on establishing line, promptly 
intrenched. That afternoon Pegram led an attack on 
the new line and broke General Warren’s front. That 
was afterward restored, and the success, in which 
Cooke’s and MacRae’s brigades shared, was without 
fruit, and resulted in Pegram’s death. 

In the brilliant attack on Fort Stedman, Grimes’ divi¬ 
sion and other North Carolina troops bore their full share 
of deadly battle. At Rives’ salient, on the day of evac¬ 
uation of Petersburg, at Southerland’s Station, at Sailor’s 
creek, on to Appomattox, the North Carolina infantry 
were as a wall of fire to the great commander whose 
peerless worth they reverenced. At Chamberlin’s run, 
so glorious to the North Carolina cavalry under Generals 
Barringer and Roberts, and in all that hopeless cam¬ 
paign, the Carolina horsemen measured to the full their 
soldierly duty. At almost every fortified line on the 
south side of the James, the guns of Carolina’s batteries 
had added to the destruction worked. But all their 
matchless heroism, combined with that of their dauntless 
comrades from sister States, could no longer delay the 
hour of humiliation. And at Appomattox, on the 9th of 
April, the remnant of as peerless an army as ever stepped 
under banners surrendered. 

* The commanders of these regiments as given in the records are 
generally those in charge at the surrender. It is regretted that not 
all are given. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 


THE LAST BATTLES IN NORTH CAROLINA—GEN. J. G. 
MARTIN’S COMMAND —BATTLES WITH KIRK AND 
THE FEDERAL MARAUDERS —THE ARMY UNDER 
GEN. JOE JOHNSTON-EVACUATION OF FORTS— 
FIGHT AT TOWN CREEK—ENGAGEMENT AT KINS- 
TON —BATTLE AT AVERASBORO— JOHNSTON RE¬ 
PULSES SHERMAN AT BENTONVILLE— JOHNSTON 
FALLS BACK TO DURHAM—SURRENDER. 

T remains now only to consider the final campaign in 
North Carolina. Toward the close of 1864, Gen. 
J. G. Martin had been recalled from the Virginia 
army and placed in command of the Western department 
of North Carolina, with headquarters at Asheville. Under 
his command were, according to Martin’s return, March 
10th, the following troops: Col. J. B. Palmer’s brigade, 
embracing the Sixty-second, Sixty-fourth and Sixty-ninth 
(?) North Carolina regiments; Macbeth’s light artillery; 
Erwin’s battalion of Senior reserves; Thomas’ legion 
(Love’s regiment), McKamy’s battalion, Indian battalion, 
and Barr’s battery—a total force of 2,910. It is not clear 
why in this report General Martin seems to count one 
regiment twice. 

These regiments of active, hardy mountaineers were 
mainly employed in repelling the numerous raids through 
the mountains by Federal mixed forces, and in meeting 
detachments from Col. George W. Kirk’s notorious regi¬ 
ment of Union North Carolinians. This regiment was a 
constant menace to that section and was restlessly ener¬ 
getic. In July, 1864, it surprised and captured Camp 
Vance, near Morgan ton. Into this camp about 200 Jun¬ 
ior reserves had been assembled to be mustered into the 
Confederate service. Only one company had arms, and 


280 



































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


281 


the surprise was so complete that this company could not 
fire a shot. Kirk made off with his captures. At Wind¬ 
ing Stairs a few regular and local troops overtook and 
attacked him, but he made good his escape with his pris¬ 
oners. In this engagement Col. W. W. Avery was mor¬ 
tally, and Col. Calvin Houk, seriously wounded. 

To meet the raiders, and, in many cases, marauders 
of that section, General Martin directed Maj. A. C. 
Avery, of Hood’s staff, then at home on account of family 
reasons, to organize a new battalion to operate against 
them. This little battalion, composed of Capt. John 
Carson’s company, of McDowell, Capt. N. A. Miller’s 
company, of Caldwell, and Capt. W. L. Twitty’s company, 
of Rutherford county, rendered most faithful service in 
keeping deserters and marauders out of their counties. 
In March, Colonel Kirk entered Haywood county, but 
Colonel Love, of the Sixty-ninth regiment, met him at 
Balsam Grove and drove him back. On March 5, 1865, 
Colonel Kirk encamped on the headwaters of the Saco 
with part of his command. The next morning Lieuten¬ 
ant-Colonel Stringfield, also of the Sixty-ninth regiment, 
attacked him with some Indian and white companies of 
the Thomas legion. During the time of Stoneman’s 
raid into the mountains, all the troops there were more 
or less engaged. Near Morganton a little field piece 
served by Lieut. George West and some soldiers on fur¬ 
lough, and supported by Captain Twitty, of Avery’s bat¬ 
talion and Maj. T. G. Walton of the militia, bravely held 
in check for some hours one of Stoneman’s detachments. 

At Waynesville, on the 8th of May, occurred the last 
engagement on North Carolina soil. There, Col. J. R. 
Love, with a force of about 500 men of the Thomas legion, 
routed a regiment of Union cavalry. 

After the fall of Fort Fisher, the Federal government 
sent General Schofield’s corps to New Bern. General 
Terry’s corps at Fisher was ordered to capture Wilming¬ 
ton, effect a junction with Schofield, and move up toward 

No 39 


282 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

Goldsboro to reinforce Sherman, who was then marching 
for North Carolina. 

The shattered fragment of the Western army had again 
been placed under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and the sol¬ 
diers gave their old commander an enthusiastic welcome. 
General Hardee, commanding most of the forces in Sher¬ 
man’s front from upper South Carolina to Averasboro, 
showed fight whenever circumstances allowed, but his 
force could do little more than harass Sherman’s march. 
General Johnston, as soon as he reached his command, 
determined to take the initiative, and if possible deliver 
battle before the Federals could unite. All the force 
under Bragg at Wilmington was ordered to join Hardee, 
and Johnston hoped, with a united army, small but 
entirely pugnacious, to fight his foes in detail. 

With this general plan in mind, it is necessary to notice 
the troops with which he purposed to carry it out. Com¬ 
ing from the South under Generals Hardee, Cheatham 
and S. D. Lee, were the veteran fragments of Cle¬ 
burne’s, Cheatham’s, Loring’s, Taliaferro’s, £>. H. Hill’s, 
Walthall’s and Stevenson’s divisions of infantry, and 
Hampton’s consolidated cavalry. Hoke’s division con¬ 
sisted of four very small but veteran brigades. Major 
Manly’s and Major Rhett’s artillery battalions accom¬ 
panied Hardee’s corps. In addition, the following troops 
were found in North Carolina; four regiments of Junior 
reserves under Cols. C. W. Broadfoot, J. H. Anderson, 
J. W. Hinsdale and Charles M. Hall—all under General 
Baker. At Fort Caswell, the First North Carolina battal¬ 
ion, Col. T. M. Jones; the Third North Carolina battal¬ 
ion, Capt. J. G. Moore, and the Sampson artillery were 
stationed. At Fort Campbell there were three com¬ 
panies of North Carolina troops under Lieut. J. D. Taylor. 
Fort Holmes was garrisoned by eight companies of the 
Fortieth regiment and one company of the Third battalion; 
that post was commanded by Col. J. J. Hedrick. At 
Smithville, a post of which Maj. James Reilly had been 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


283 


the commander, two companies of the Tenth North Caro¬ 
lina battalion and one light battery constituted the garri¬ 
son. At Magnolia there was a small post under Col. 
George Jackson. Parts of all these garrisons joined 
Johnston’s army. 

The union of all these forces would give General John¬ 
ston an effective strength of only about 36,000. A larger 
number than this is reported on the parole list of the sur¬ 
render, but this comes from the fact that many soldiers 
never in Johnston’s army were paroled in different parts 
of the State. 

Before he received his concentration orders, General 
Hoke, at Wilmington, had been engaged in some minor 
actions. Moore says: “General Hoke had posted Lieut. 
Alfred M. Darden with 70 of the survivors of the Third 
North Carolina battalion, on the summit of Sugar Loaf. 
This battery and the guns at Fort Anderson, just across 
the river, kept the enemy’s gunboats at bay. Brig.-Gen. 
W. W. Kirkland, of Orange, with his brigade, held the 
intrenched camp. He had highly distinguished himself 
as colonel of the Twenty-first North Carolina volunteers. 
At the foot of the hill were posted the Junior and Senior 
reserves, under Col. J. K. Connally. Across the Tele¬ 
graph road, upon their left, was Battery A, Third North 
Carolina battalion, Capt. A. J. Ellis. Next was the 
brigade of General Clingman, and still further the Geor¬ 
gia brigade of General Colquitt. For tedious weeks the 
great guns of the mighty fleet, close in upon the left 
flank, and the sharpshooters in front, made no impres¬ 
sion upon General Hoke and his men.” 

General Schofield, however, came to reinforce his lieu¬ 
tenant, and the landing of his forces made necessary the 
evacuation of Forts Caswell, Holmes, Campbell, Pender 
and Anderson. The garrisons from these forts and 
part of Hagood’s brigade became engaged at Town 
creek, and for some time gallantly defied all efforts to 
push them aside. By the 7th of March, Hoke was near 


284 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Kinston and part of the Southern army was at Smithfield. 
On that date Gen. D. H. Hill was ordered to take his 
own division and Pettus’ brigade of Stevenson’s division 
and move to Hoke’s position for battle. Clayton’s divi¬ 
sion of Lee’s corps and the Junior reserves under Baker 
soon after reported to General Hill. On the 8th, Gener¬ 
als Hoke and Hill engaged the corps of General Cox, 
stated by him. to be 13,056. The battle was fought near 
Kinston, and its opening was fortunate for the Confeder¬ 
ates. Upham’s brigade was broken and this initial suc¬ 
cess was about to be followed up vigorously, when an 
order from the commanding general diverted a part of 
the force engaged. The Federals retained their works, 
and the Confederates retired to effect the purposed junc¬ 
tion. The Federal loss was 1,257. 

Hardee at Averasboro, on the 15th of March, was called 
upon to make a stand against Sherman until Hoke and 
Hill could get up from Kinston. Bravely Hardee’s men 
met the issue and gained the time. 

General Johnston, determined to strike Sherman before 
Schofield’s arrival, concentrated his army at the ham¬ 
let of Bentonville. There, on the 19th, he inflicted a 
signal repulse on Sherman. Davis was the first to feel 
the weight of the Confederate battle. Carlin advanced 
two brigades against the Confederate front and recoiled 
in disorder. Buell’s brigade was next broken by Bate, 
and then Stewart and Hill continued the success toward 
the center. Brigade after brigade of Davis’ was crushed, 
and but for a gallant charge by Fearing, the center 
would have been entirely disrupted. Morgan tried in 
vain to break Hoke’s front. Toward 5 o’clock a gen¬ 
eral advance was ordered by the Confederate front, and 
was also continued until dark. It was successful in front 
of Cogswell and at other points, but did not result in driv¬ 
ing off Sherman. The Junior reserves, of North Carolina, 
“the unripe wheat” of the State, made themselves promi¬ 
nent for gallantry on this field. 





CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


285 


How reduced the Confederate army was by this time is 
shown by a statement in Gen. D. H. Hill’s report. He 
commanded that day Lee’s corps, and states that his 
whole corps numbered 2,687 men! 

Sherman was unwilling to attack after the repulse at 
Bentonville, but quietly waited for his other corps to join 
him, knowing that Johnston must retreat, as his num¬ 
bers would never again enable him to join a pitched 
battle. General Johnston, after retreating as far as Dur¬ 
ham, realized that further resistance was useless and sur¬ 
rendered his army. 

What Judge Roulhac, of the Forty-ninth regiment, says 
of his comrades applies to all the youth who in 1861 
marched to obey the call of their State: “How splen¬ 
did and great they were in their modest, patient, earnest 
love of country! How strong they were in their young 
manhood, and pure they were in their faith, and con¬ 
stant they were to their principles! How they bore suf¬ 
fering and hardship, and how their lives were ready at 
the call of duty! What magnificent courage, what unsul¬ 
lied patriotism! Suffering they bore, duty they per¬ 
formed, and death they faced and met, all for love of the 
dear old home land; all this for the glory and honor of 
North Carolina. 

“As they were faithful unto thee, guard thou their 
names and fame, grand old mother of us all. If thy sons 
in the coming times shall learn the lesson of the heroism 
their lives inspired and their deeds declared, then not 
one drop of blood was shed in vain. ” 



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BIOGRAPHICAL 


287 






MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PRO- 
VISIONAL ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, 
ACCREDITED TO NORTH CAROLINA. 

Brigadier-General George Burgwyn Anderson, the 
oldest son of William E. Anderson and his wife, Eliza 
Burgwyn, was born near Hillsboro, Orange county, N. C., 
April, 1831. At an early age he entered the State uni¬ 
versity at Chapel Hill, and on graduation divided first 
honors with three others of his class. Pie was appointed to 
the United States military academy when seventeen years 
old, and was graduated tenth in a class of forty-three in 
1852, with a commission in the Second dragoons. After 
a few months at the cavalry school at Carlisle he was 
detailed to assist in the survey of a railroad route in Cali¬ 
fornia, after that duty rejoining his regiment at Fort 
Chadbourne, Tex. Having been promoted first lieuten¬ 
ant in 1855, he commanded his troop in the march from 
Texas across the plains to Fort Riley, Kan. ; accompanied 
his regiment as adjutant in the Utah expedition of 1858, 
and remained in that territory until 1859, when he was 
ordered on recruiting service at Louisville, Ky. There 
he was married in November following to Mildred 
Ewing, of that city. When the crisis of 1861 arrived he 
promptly resigned, being, it is said, the first North Caro¬ 
linian in the old army to take this step, and offered for 
the defense of his State the sword which he had worn 
with honor, and which descended to him from his uncle, 
Capt. John H. K. Burgwyn, U. S. A., who was killed at 
Puebla de Taos during the Mexican war. Anderson was 
at this time a magnificent specimen of.manhood, full six 
feet, erect, broad-shouldered, round-limbed, with a deep, 
musical voice, and a smile wonderfully gentle and win¬ 
ning. Being commissioned colonel of the Fourth regi- 

289 

K c 37 


290 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ment by Governor Ellis, he rapidly completed its organ¬ 
ization, and soon after the battle of July 21st, reached 
Manassas Junction, where he was appointed post com¬ 
mandant and charged with the construction of the defens¬ 
ive works. He remained in command here until March, 
1862, and meanwhile was strongly recommended for 
promotion to brigadier-general by Gens. D. H. Hill and 
J. E. Johnston, but this was for some reason withheld 
until forced by the unsurpassed gallantry of his regiment 
at the battle of Williamsburg. N It is sufficient evidence 
of the magnificent training and discipline of his men to 
record that out of 520 rank and file which the regiment 
carried into action, 462 were killed or wounded, and out 
of 27 commissioned officers, all but one were killed or 
wounded. This was not a foredoomed forlorn hope or a 
charge of a “Light Brigade,” but surpassed any such 
recorded in history, both in loss and achievement, for 
they went in to win and did win. During this fight Col¬ 
onel Anderson seized the colors of the Twenty-seventh 
Georgia and dashed forward leading the charge, and 
though his men, cheering wildly as they followed, lost 
scores at every step, their courage was irresistible, and 
Anderson planted the colors on the stubbornly-defended 
breastworks. This was witnessed by President Davis, 
who at once promoted Anderson to brigadier-general. 
His brigade included the Second, Fourth, Fourteenth 
and Thirtieth North Carolina regiments. During the 
bloody Seven Days’ fighting which followed, he was con¬ 
spicuous for skill in detecting the weak points of the 
enemy and boldness and persistence in attack. While 
leading a desperate charge at Malvern Hill he was 
severely wounded. His next serious engagement was at 
South Mountain, Md., where his brigade, with the 
others of D. H. Hill’s division, held back half of McClel¬ 
lan’s army till nightfall. Three days later at Sharps- 
burg, on September 17, 1862, he was for the last time dis¬ 
tinguished in battle. During an assault of the enemy, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


291 


in which a large part of Hill’s division fell back through 
a mistake in conveying orders, General Anderson and 
his men nobly held their line, until he was struck by a 
ball in his foot near the ankle, which brought him to the 
ground. It was a most painful injury, and he suffered 
great agony in being carried to Richmond and thence to 
Raleigh, where finally an amputation was made. He 
sank under the operation, and died on the morning of 
October 16, 1862. He was a man of spotless purity of 
life, integrity and honor, as well as dauntless courage. 
His ennobling influence upon the North Carolina soldiery 
can hardly be overestimated. 

Brigadier-General Lawrence S. Baker, distinguished 
as a cavalry officer in the service of the Confederate 
States, was born in Gates county, N. C., in May, 1830. 
His family is an old and honorable one, founded in 
America by Lawrence Baker, who came to Virginia from 
England early in the seventeenth century and became a 
member of the house of burgesses. His descendant, Gen. 
Lawrence Baker, of North Carolina, was a leader in the 
movement for independence, served in the Revolutionary 
war, and was one of the two representatives of North 
Carolina in the Continental Congress. His son, John B. 
Baker, M. D., father of Gen. L. S. Baker, was a well* 
known physician and prominent citizen of North Caro¬ 
lina, in the legislature of which he sat as a member from 
Gates county. General Baker received his early educa¬ 
tion in his native State and at Norfolk academy, and then 
entered the United States military academy at West 
Point, where he was graduated in the class of 1851. At 
his graduation he was promoted second lieutenant of the 
Third cavalry, and by meritorious and gallant service he 
had passed the grade of first lieutenant, and had been 
promoted captain, when he resigned after his State had 
announced its adherence to the Confederacy, in order that 
he might tender his services for the defense of North 


292 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Carolina. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, Con¬ 
federate States cavalry, to date from March 16, 1861, and 
on May 8 th was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth 
North Carolina regiment, afterward known as the First 
North Carolina cavalry. With this command he joined 
the cavalry brigade of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, in 1861, and 
on March i, 1862, he was promoted colonel of his regi¬ 
ment. During the opening of the Seven Days’ battles 
which followed, he served upon the right wing of the 
army, and on June 29th commanded the Confederate 
cavalry in the affair on the Charles City road, which was, 
in fact, a reconnoissance in which the Federal cavalry 
were driven back until reinforced by heavy bodies of 
infantry, when Colonel Baker was compelled to retire. 
After this campaign the cavalry division was organized 
and Colonel Baker and his regiment were assigned to the 
brigade of Gen. Wade Hampton. With the active and 
heroic work of this brigade through the campaigns of 
Manassas and Sharpsburg, Colonel Baker was gallantly 
identified. He fought with his regiment at Frederick 
City, Md., and in defense of the South Mountain passes; 
took part in the battle of Sharpsburg, and subse¬ 
quently skirmished with the enemy at Williamsport. 
During the many cavalry affairs that preceded and fol¬ 
lowed the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 
he rendered valuable service. Particularly at the battle 
of Fleetwood Hill, preceding the movement into Penn¬ 
sylvania, he displayed his soldierly qualities. Here, on 
June 9, 1863, in command of his regiment and supported 
by the Jeff Davis legion, he charged upon the enemy, 
and after what may truly be said to have been in point of 
the number of men who crossed sabers, the most impor¬ 
tant hand-to-hand contest of cavalry in the war, drove the 
Federals from their position. At Upperville he was 
again distinguished, and it was to his regiment that 
Hampton turned in the moment of greatest peril, draw¬ 
ing his saber and crying, “First North Carolina, follow 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


293 


me!” The regiment participated in Stuart’s Pennsyl¬ 
vania raid, and reaching the field of Gettysburg on July 
3d, engaged in the desperate hand-to-hand cavalry fight 
on the right of the army. In this bloody action Hamp¬ 
ton was twice wounded, and Colonel Baker was given 
command of the brigade during the subsequent impor¬ 
tant work of protecting the retreat of the army, including 
fighting about Hagerstown and Falling Waters. After 
the army had crossed into Virginia, Colonel Baker was 
assigned the duty of picketing the Potomac from Falling 
Waters to Hedgesville, and had frequent skirmishes with 
the enemy until withdrawn to the line of the Rappahan¬ 
nock. Here, on July 31st, the Federal cavalry crossed 
the river in force and advanced toward Brandy Station, 
stubbornly resisted by Hampton’s brigade of cavalry 
under command of Colonel Baker, General Stuart also 
being at the front. In his report of this affair, Gen. 
R. E. Lee wrote: “Hampton’s brigade behaved with its 
usual gallantry and was very skillfully handled by Col¬ 
onel Baker. Our loss was small, but among our wounded, 
I regret to say, are those brave officers, Colonel Baker, 
commanding the brigade; Colonel Young, of Cobb’s 
legion, and Colonel Black, of the First South Carolina 
cavalry.” On the same day General Lee recommended 
Colonel Baker for promotion to the rank of brigadier- 
general, which was promptly confirmed, and in the sub¬ 
sequent reorganization of the cavalry he was assigned to 
the command of a brigade composed exclusively of 
North Carolina regiments, the First, Second, Fourth and 
Fifth. But the wound he had received at Brandy Sta¬ 
tion was a serious one—the bones of his arm being com¬ 
pletely shattered, and the use of it lost to him, in conse¬ 
quence of which he was unable to continue his service 
with the cavalry. When General Wade Hampton 
became chief of the cavalry in the spring of 1864, he 
desired General Baker to accept division command under 
him with promotion to major-general, but the disability 


294 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


prevented, and he was assigned by the war department 
to the responsible command of the Second military dis¬ 
trict of South Carolina, in which capacity he had the 
duties of a major-general, in charge of the forces 
at Goldsboro, Kinston, Wilmington, Plymouth and 
Weldon, and was particularly intrusted with the pro¬ 
tection of the Weldon railroad. Later he was called to 
confront Sherman’s advance in the vicinity of Savannah 
and Augusta, Ga., and then being recalled to North 
Carolina by Bragg, he commanded in the final campaign 
the First brigade of Junior reserves, in Hoke’s division 
of Hardee’s corps. He surrendered at Raleigh, after the 
capitulation of Johnston, and then, having spent all his 
life, so far, in military employment, was confronted by 
the difficult task of finding a place in civil life in a 
country ravaged by war. He lived at New Bern for 
awhile, and near Norfolk, Va., carried on a trucking busi¬ 
ness, after which he returned to North Carolina, and was 
engaged in insurance until 1877. At the latter date he 
was offered the position of agent of the Seaboard 
Air Line railroad at Suffolk, Va., a position he has since 
occupied. General Baker is held in warm remembrance 
by Confederates everywhere, particularly in Virginia and 
North Carolina, where his bravery and devotion are most 
intimately known. He maintains a membership in Tom 
Smith camp, United Confederate Veterans, at Suffolk, 
and keeps alive his comradeship with the survivors of 
the great struggle. In 1855 he was married to Elizabeth 
E., daughter of Dr. Alex. Henderson, of North Carolina, 
and they have three children living: Alexander Baker, 
sheriff of Nansemond county, Va. ; Stuart A. Baker, of 
Richmond, and Elizabeth E. Baker. 

Brigadier-General Rufus Barringer was born in Cab¬ 
arrus county, N. C., December 2, 1821. He was of 
sturdy German stock, a grandson of John Paul Barringer, 
who was born in Wurtemburg, June 4, 1721, and emi- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


295 


grated to this country, arriving at Philadelphia, in the 
ship Phoenix, September 30, 1743. John Paul or Paulus 
Barringer, as he was called, married Catharine, daughter 
of Caleb Blackwelder and Polly Decker of Germany. Of 
their ten children by this (second) marriage, the eldest, 
Paul Barringer, was prominent in the service of the State 
and was commissioned a brigadier-general during the war 
of 1812. During his infancy his grandfather Black- 
welder, and his father Paulus Barringer, a captain in the 
colonial militia and a conspicuous member of the com¬ 
mittee of safety, were taken prisoners by the tories and 
carried to Cheraw, S. C. Paul Barringer married Eliza¬ 
beth, daughter of Jean Armstrong and Matthew Brandon, 
who was with Joseph Graham and Colonel Locke in the 
repulse of the British near Charlotte, and also served 
with Col. John Brandon at Ramseur’s mill. Gen. Rufus 
Barringer, son of the above, was born in 1821, and was 
graduated at North Carolina university in 1842. He 
studied law with his brother Moreau, then with Chief- 
Justice Pearson, settling in Concord. A Whig in politics, 
in 1848 he served in the lower house of the State legisla¬ 
ture, and here was in advance of his time in advocating 
a progressive system of internal improvements. The 
following session he was elected to the State senate. He 
then devoted himself to his practice until he was made in 
i860 a Whig elector in behalf of Bell and Everett. He 
was tenacious of his principles, and not to be swerved 
from duty by any amount of ridicule or opposition; was 
devotedly attached to the Union and the Constitution, 
and with rare discernment saw that the consequence of 
secession would be war, the fiercest and bloodiest of 
modern times, and he was so outspoken with his convic¬ 
tions that he was once caricatured in the streets of Char¬ 
lotte. However, when he saw that war was inevitable, his 
duty to his State came uppermost, and even before the 
final ordinance of secession was passed he urged the legisla¬ 
ture, then in session, to arm the State and warn the 


296 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


people that they must now prepare for war. He himself 
was among the first to volunteer. He raised in Cabarrus 
county a company of cavalry, of which he was chosen 
captain and which became Company F, First North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry, his commission bearing date May 16, 1861. 
He was promoted to major, August 26, 1863, and three 
months later to lieutenant-colonel. In June, 1864, he 
was commissioned brigadier-general, and succeeded to 
the command of the North Carolina cavalry brigade, con¬ 
sisting of the First, Second, Third and Fifth regiments. 
General Barringer was in seventy-six actions and was 
thrice wounded, most severely at Brandy Station. Ho 
had two horses killed under him at other engagements. 
He was conspicuous at the battles of Willis’ Church, 
Brandy Station, Auburn Mills; Buckland Races, where 
he led the charge; Davis’ Farm, where he was com¬ 
mander; and he was in command of a division at Reams’ 
Station. His brigade was distinguished at Chamberlain 
Run, March 31, 1865, when it forded a stream one hun¬ 
dred yards wide, saddle-girth deep, under a galling fire, 
and drove back a division of Federal cavalry, this being 
the last decisive Confederate victory on Virginia soil. 
On April 3, 1865, at Namozine church, he was taken 
prisoner by a party of “Jesse scouts” disguised as Con¬ 
federates, Colonel Young and Captain Rowland among 
them, and sent to City Point along with General Ewell. 
President Lincoln, then at City Point, was at Colonel 
Bowers’ tent and asked that General Barringer be pre¬ 
sented to him, jocosely adding, “You know I have never 
seen a real live rebel general in uniform. ’ ’ The Presi¬ 
dent greeted him warmly, and was pleased to recall 
acquaintanceship with his elder brother, D. M. Barringer, 
with whom he served in Congress. General Barringer 
was then sent on to the old Capitol prison, and afterward 
transferred to Fort Delaware, where he was detained till 
August, 1865. While there, he had the opportunity of 
ascertaining the current of public sentiment in regard to 




J&K 








Brig.-Gen. John R. Cooke. 
Brig.-Gen. Gabriel J. Rains. 
Brig.-Gen. Lawrence S Baker. 
Brig.-Gen. Robert D. Johnston. 


Brig.-Gen. W. G. Lewis. 
Brig.-Gen. Geo. B. Anderson. 
Brig.-Gen. W. W. Kirkland. 
Brig.-Gen. Rufus Barringer. 


Maj.-Gen. Bryan Grimes. 
Brig.-Gen. Jas. G. Martin. 
Brig.-Gen. Thos. L. Clingman. 
Brig.-Gen. Junius Daniel. 





































































' 


■- ■'am 




















CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


297 


the results of the war, and as he had foreseen that war 
would follow secession, he now realized that the con¬ 
querors decreed free suffrage, and believed the wisest 
action of the South would be to accept the consequences. 
With his accustomed directness and fearlessness of 
action, he advocated the acceptance of the reconstruction 
acts of 1867, and urged his fellow citizens to the policy 
he believed best suited to the country. Of course he 
suffered from the violent animosity incident to political 
differences, yet the appreciation of his home people was 
shown by his election in 1875 to the State constitutional 
convention, as a Republican from a Democratic county, 
and though defeated for lieutenant-governor in 1880, his 
own Democratic county gave him a majority of its votes. 
In 1865 General Barringer removed to Charlotte, and 
resumed the practice of law till 1884; at first in partner¬ 
ship with Judge Osborne. After his retirement from the 
bar he devoted himself to his farming interests, striving 
to imbue the farmer with ambition for improvement in 
himself and his circumstances. For this purpose he often 
had recourse to the press, the last week of his life con¬ 
tributing to the papers an article protesting against the 
farmers’ desertion of their homes for the towns. He had 
abiding faith in the power of the press and in its influ¬ 
ence for good. Among his latest pleasures were talking 
with the old veterans and contributing to the history of the 
war. In 1881 he wrote a series of cavalry sketches 
describing the battles of Five Forks and Chamberlain 
Run, Namozine Church, and other notable engagements, 
which are preserved to-day among the most interesting 
and valuable historical data of the war; and again he 
made valuable contributions to “The War Between the 
States,” published by John A. Sloane. He was ever 
interested in history, and zealous of the fame of North 
Carolina. He wrote sketches of “The Dutch Side,” a 
history of the “Battle of Ramseur’s Mill,” “A History 
of the North Carolina Railroad,” etc. On November 19, 

Nc 38 


298 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1894, came a plea from Judge Clark for a history of the 
Ninth regiment, State troops (First North Carolina cav¬ 
alry), saying, “You are very busy, and that is one reason 
you are selected. Only busy men have the energy and 
talent to do this work. Your record as a soldier satisfies 
me that you will not decline the post of duty. ’ ’ Already 
confined to bed, he called for books and papers, and with 
the zeal and haste of one impressed with the importance 
of the work and the shortness of time, he put on the fin¬ 
ishing touches not many days before the end. It was a 
labor of love. The purpose of his thought, which never 
seemed to weaken, was the uplifting of his fellow men, 
the prosperity of his beloved church, and care for his old 
comrades. One of his last injunctions to his son was, 
“Remember Company F; see that not one of them ever 
suffers want. They ever loved me, they were ever 
faithful to me, and Paul, always stand by our Confeder¬ 
ate soldiers, and North Carolina. Let her never be 
traduced.” He died February 3, 1895, leaving a wife 
and three sons; the eldest, Dr. Paul Barringer, now 
chairman of the university of Virginia; the youngest, 
Osmond Long Barringer, with his mother in Charlotte. 
His first wife was Eugenia Morrison, sister of Mrs. T. J. 
(Stonewall) Jackson; the second Rosalie Chunn, of Ashe¬ 
ville; the surviving one Margaret Long of Orange county. 

Brigadier-General Lawrence O’Brian Branch was bom 
in Halifax county, N. C., November 28, 1820. Five 
years later his mother died, and his father, who had 
removed to Tennessee, died in 1827. He was then 
brought back to his native State by his guardian, Gov. 
John Branch, and was taken to Washington when the 
governor was appointed secretary of the navy in 1829. 
At the national capital the boy studied under various 
preceptors, one of them being Salmon P. Chase, after¬ 
ward secretary of the treasury. He was graduated with 
first honors at Princeton in 1838, after which he resided 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


299 


eight years in Florida, practicing law and in the early 
part of 1841 participating in the Seminole war. In 1844 
he married the daughter of Gen. W. A. Blount, of Wash¬ 
ington, N. C., and soon afterward made his home at 
Raleigh. In 1852 he was an elector on the Pierce ticket; 
in the same year became president of the Raleigh & Gas¬ 
ton railroad, and in 1855 was elected to Congress, where 
he served until the war began. Upon the resignation of 
Howell Cobb he was tendered, but declined, the position 
of secretary of the treasury. Returning from Congress 
March 4, 1861, he advocated immediate secession, and in 
April enlisted as a private in the Raleigh rifles. On May 
20th he accepted the office of State quartermaster-general, 
but resigned it for service in the field, and in Septem¬ 
ber following was elected colonel of the Thirty-third regi¬ 
ment North Carolina troops. On January 17, 1862, he 
was promoted to brigadier-general in the provisional 
army of the Confederate States, his command including 
the Seventh, Eighteenth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-third 
and Thirty-seventh regiments. At New Bern, March 
14, 1862, he was in his first battle, commanding the 
forces which disputed the advance of Burnside. Retir¬ 
ing to Kinston, he was ordered to Virginia and his bri¬ 
gade was attached to A. P. Hill’s famous light division. 
It was the first in the fight at Slash church (Hanover 
Court House), also the first to cross the Chickahominy 
and attack the Federals, beginning the Seven Days’ 
battles, in which the brigade fought at Mechanicsville, 
Cold Harbor, Frayser’s Farm, and Malvern Hill, winning 
imperishable fame, at a cost of five colonels and 1,250 
men killed and wounded, out of a total strength of 3,000. 
General Branch bore himself throughout this bloody 
campaign with undaunted courage and the coolness of a 
veteran commander. Soon followed the battles of Cedar 
Run, Second Manassas, Fairfax Court House and Har¬ 
per’s Ferry. Hurrying from the latter victory on the 
morning of September 17th, he reached the field of 


300 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


Sharpsburg with his brigade about 2:30 in the afternoon, 
just in time to meet an advance of the enemy which had 
broken the line of Jones’ division and captured a bat¬ 
tery. “With a yell of defiance,” A. P. Hill reported, 
“Archer charged them, retook McIntosh’s guns, and 
drove them back pellmell. Branch and Gregg, with 
their old veterans, sternly held their ground, and pour¬ 
ing in destructive volleys, the tide of the enemy surged 
back, and breaking in confusion, passed out of sight. 
The three brigades of my division actively engaged did 
not number over 2,000 men, and these, with the help of 
my splendid batteries, drove back Burnside’s corps of 
15,000 men.’’ Soon after, as Hill and the three briga¬ 
diers were consulting, some sharpshooter sent a bullet 
into the group, which crashed through the brain of Gen¬ 
eral Branch, and he fell, dying, into the arms of his staff- 
officer, Major Engelhard. In noticing this sad event, 
General Hill wrote: “The Confederacy has to mourn the 
loss of a gallant soldier and accomplished gentleman. 
He was my senior brigadier, and one to whom I could 
have intrusted the command of the division, with all 
confidence.’’ General Branch left one son, W. A. B. 
Branch, who has served in Congress from the First 
district. 

Brigadier-General Thomas Lanier Clingman was born 
at Huntsville, N. C., July 27, 1812, son of Jacob and 
Jane (Poindexter) Clingman. His grandfather, Alexan¬ 
der Clingman, a native of Germany, emigrated to Penn¬ 
sylvania, served in the continental army, was captured 
in General Lincoln’s surrender, and after the war made 
his home in Yadkin, now Surry county, becoming allied 
by marriage with the Patillo family. Young Clingman 
was graduated by the university of North Carolina, and 
began the practice of law at Hillsboro, where in 
1835 he was elected to the legislature as a Whig, begin¬ 
ning a career of national prominence in politics. Remov- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


301 


ing to Asheville in 1836, he won considerable fame in a 
public discussion, concerning a proposed railroad, with 
Colonel Memminger, of South Carolina, and was elected 
to the State senate. He speedily assumed leadership in 
the Whig party, and in 1843 was elected to Congress, 
where he served in the lower house until 1858, contin¬ 
uously with the exception of the twenty-ninth Congress. 
In 1858 he was appointed United States senator to suc¬ 
ceed Asa Biggs, and at the end of this term was elected. 
He took part in many famous debates in Congress, and 
attained a position of leadership in national affairs. His 
speech on the causes of the defeat of Henry Clay led to a 
duel with William L. Yancey, of Alabama. On January 
21, 1861, he withdrew from Congress with the other 
Southern members, and in May was selected to bear 
assurances to the Confederate Congress that North Caro¬ 
lina would enter the Confederacy. Volunteering for the 
military service, though nearly fifty years of age, he was 
elected colonel of the Twenty-fifth infantry, and eight 
months later was promoted brigadier-general. His prin¬ 
cipal services were in command at the defense of Golds¬ 
boro; at Sullivan’s island and Battery Wagner during 
the attack on Charleston; the attack on New Bern in 
February, 1864; the defeat of Butler at Drewry’s bluff, 
May, 1864; the battle of Cold Harbor, where he was 
wounded; the repulse of the Federal attack on Peters- 
burg, June 17th, and the battle on the Weldon railroad, 
August 19th. In the latter fight he was severely 
wounded, and was unable to rejoin his command until a 
few days before the surrender at Greensboro. After the 
war he was a delegate to the national Democratic con¬ 
vention of 1864. In the department of science he was 
quite as distinguished as in law, statecraft and war. He 
explored the mountains of North Carolina, establishing 
the fact that they contained the loftiest peaks of the 
Appalachian range, one of the chief of which, measured 
by him in 1855, now bears his name; opened the mica 


302 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


mines of Mitchell and Yancey counties; made known the 
existence of corundum, zircon, rubies and other gems in 
the State; furnished valuable evidence of the depth of 
the atmosphere by his observations on the August 
meteor of i860, and affirmed long before the days of 
Edison that sound might in some way be transmitted 
with the speed of electricity. He published several vol¬ 
umes, including his public addresses. In later years 
the unselfish services which had brought him fame left 
him unprovided with the comforts of life, and the close 
of his days was a pathetic illustration of how the world 
may forget. He died at Morgantown, November 3, 1897. 

Brigadier-General John R. Cooke was born at Jefferson 
barracks, Mo., in 1833, the son of Philip St. George 
Cooke, then first lieutenant First dragoons, U. S. A. 
It is an interesting fact that while the son and his 
sister’s husband, J. E. B. Stuart, fought for Virginia in 
the war of the Confederacy, the father, a native of Fred¬ 
erick county, Va., remained in the United States army, 
and attained the rank of major-general, finally being 
retired after fifty years’ service. Young Cooke was edu¬ 
cated at Harvard college as a civil engineer, but in 1855 
was commissioned second lieutenant, Eighth infantry, 
after which he served in Texas, New Mexico and Ari¬ 
zona. When Virginia seceded he promptly resigned his 
commission, reported to General Holmes at Fredericks¬ 
burg as first lieutenant, and after the battle of Manassas 
raised a company of light artillery, which did splendid 
service along the Potomac. In February, 1862, he was 
promoted major, and assigned as chief of artillery to the 
department of North Carolina. In April, at the reorgan¬ 
ization, he was elected colonel of the Twenty-seventh 
North Carolina regiment. On being ordered to Virginia 
his regiment was attached to A. P. Hill’s division, and 
was first in battle at Seven Pines. After the battle of 
Sharpsburg, in which he won the admiration of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


303 


whole army, he was promoted to brigadier-general, 
and put in command of a brigade of North 
Carolinians, the Fifteenth, Twenty-seventh, Forty- 
sixth, Forty-eighth and Fifty-ninth regiments. At 
Fredericksburg he supported General Cobb, holding the 
famous stone wall, and all through the war, until its 
close, he and his brigade were in the thickest of the 
fray. He was wounded seven times, at Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg, Bristoe Station, and in the Wilderness 
campaign. No officer bore a more enviable reputation 
than General Cooke for prompt obedience to orders, skill in 
handling his men, splendid dash in the charge, or heroic, 
patient, stubborn courage in the defense. After the close 
of hostilities General Cooke entered mercantile life at 
Richmond, and during his subsequent life was prominent 
in the affairs of the city and State. He served several 
years as a member of the city committee of the Demo¬ 
cratic party, was a director of the chamber of commerce, 
and president of the board of directors of the State peni¬ 
tentiary. During the years of peace and reconciliation, 
the estrangement in his family which had followed his 
espousal of the Southern cause, was fully healed; but 
he remained loyal to his old comrades. He was promi¬ 
nent as a founder and manager of the Soldiers’ Home at 
Richmond, was one of the first commanders of the Lee 
camp, Confederate veterans, and acted as chief of staff 
at the laying of the cornerstone of the Lee monument, 
and at its unveiling. He married Nannie G. Patton, of 
Fredericksburg, daughter of Dr. William F. Patton, 
surgeon U. S. N., and they had eight children. General 
Cooke’s death occurred April io, 1891. 

Brigadier-General William Ruffin Cox was born March 
11, 1832, at Scotland Neck, Halifax county, N. C. He is 
of English and Scotch-Irish descent, and his ancestors 
were early and prominent colonists in the new world. 
The father of General Cox died when the latter was four 


304 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


years old, and later his mother moved to Nashville, 
Tenn., where he was educated and graduated in letters 
at the Franklin college, and in law at the famous Leb¬ 
anon law school. He formed a partnership in the legal 
practice with a prominent member of the Nashville bar, 
and was active in his profession until 1857, when he 
removed to North Carolina and engaged in agriculture 
in Edgecomb county. Removing to Raleigh in 1859, he 
was nominated for the legislature on the Democratic 
ticket, and though leading the same, was defeated by 
thirteen votes. Upon the outbreak of the war in 
1861, he contributed liberally to the equipment of the 
“Ellis artillery” company, and was employed in organ¬ 
izing a company of infantry when he was commissioned, 
by Governor Ellis, major of the Second regiment, North 
Carolina State troops, commanded by Col. C. C. Tew. 
Upon the death of the gallant colonel at Sharpsburg, 
Judge W. P. Bynum became colonel and Cox lieutenant- 
colonel, and soon afterward Bynum resigned and Cox 
took command of the regiment, and was promoted to col¬ 
onel in March, 1863. In the battle of Chancellorsville, 
where his brigade suffered great loss, he was three times 
wounded In his official report General Ramseur gave 
unusual and prominent attention to “the manly and chiv¬ 
alrous Cox of the Second North Carolina, the accom¬ 
plished gentleman, splendid soldier and warm friend, 
who, though wounded three times, remained with his 
regiment until exhausted. In common with the entire 
command, I regret his absence from the field, where he 
loves to be." He was able to rejoin his command after 
the return from Pennsylvania and take part in the Wil¬ 
derness and Spottsylvania battles of 1864. He took a 
conspicuous part with Ramseur’s brigade in the battle of 
May 12th, for which Generals Lee and Ewell gave their 
thanks upon the field. After this battle he, though the 
junior colonel, was promoted to the command of the bri¬ 
gade, composed of the Second, Fourth, Fourteenth and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


305 


Thirtieth regiments, to which were attached those of the 
First and Third regiments who escaped from the wreck 
of Steuart’s brigade of Johnson’s division. After the 
battle of Cold Harbor he served with Early’s corps in the 
relief of Lynchburg, the expedition through Maryland to 
Washington, including the battle of Monocacy, and the 
Shenandoah battles of the fall of 1864. He then 
returned to the heroic army of Northern Virginia in the 
trenches before Petersburg, participated in the gallant 
and desperate effort of Gordon’s corps to break the 
enemy’s line at Fort Stedman, and during the retreat 
rounded out his reputation for good soldiership. It has 
been related by Governor Vance that on one occasion 
during the retreat to the west, when General Lee was 
endeavoring to form a line from disorganized troops, his 
heart was gladdened by the appearance of a small but 
orderly brigade, marching with precision. He called 
out to an aide: “What troops are those?’’ “Cox’s North 
Carolina brigade, ’ ’ was the reply. Then it was that, tak¬ 
ing off his hat and bowing his head with knightly cour¬ 
tesy, he said, “God bless gallant old North Carolina.” 
Cox led the division at the last charge at Appomattox, 
and had ordered his brigade to cover the retreat, when he 
was recalled to the rear. It was the brigade of General 
Cox, marching in the rear, which faced about, and with 
the steadiness of veterans on parade, poured such a sud¬ 
den and deadly volley into the overwhelming numbers 
of the Federals that they temporarily abandoned the 
attempt to capture the command. General Cox was with 
his men to the bitter end. Eleven wounds had not 
sufficed to retire him from the service. Subsequently 
he resumed his law practice, and became president of the 
Chatham railroad. For six years he held the office of 
solicitor of the metropolitan district; was chairman of 
the Democratic State executive committee for five years; 
was delegate for the State-at-large in the national con¬ 
vention of 1876, and in January, 1877, was appointed cir- 

Nc 39 


306 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


cuit judge of the Sixth judicial district. This office he 
resigned to enter Congress, where he served with dis¬ 
tinction for six years. Intending to retire from politics, 
General Cox returned to his estate in Edgecomb and 
resumed the pursuit of agriculture, and was thus 
employed when, without his knowledge, his name was 
agreed upon and he was elected as secretary of the 
United States Senate, to succeed Gen. Anson G. McCook. 
This position he has since filled to the entire satisfaction 
of that great body, also giving much personal attention 
to his agricultural interests. General Cox was married 
in 1857 to a daughter of James S. Battle, and after her 
death in 1880, to a daughter of Rt. Rev. T. B. Lyman, 
bishop of North Carolina. 

Brigadier-General Junius Daniel was bom at Halifax, 
N. C., June 27, 1828. He was the youngest son of J. R. 
J. Daniel, attorney-general of North Carolina and repre¬ 
sentative in Congress, and a cousin of Judge Daniel of 
the Superior and Supreme courts of the State. He was 
appointed to the United States military academy by 
President Polk as a cadet-at-large, and was graduated in 
1851 and promoted to second lieutenant in the fall of 
that year. After a year or two of service at Newport 
barracks, Kentucky, he was ordered to New Mexico, 
where he served in garrison at Forts Filmore, Albu¬ 
querque and Stanton, and in skirmishes with the Indians 
until 1857, when he was promoted first lieutenant, Third 
infantry. In 1858 he resigned to take charge of his 
father’s plantation in Louisiana. In October, i860, he 
married Ellen, daughter of John J. Long, of Northamp¬ 
ton county, N. C. When his State had decided to enter 
the Confederacy, Lieutenant Daniel offered his experience 
and soldierly ability, and upon the organization of the 
Fourteenth infantry regiment at Garysburg was elected 
colonel, and commissioned June 3, 1861. His regiment 
was an ideal one in its composition, representing the best 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 307 

families of the State, and he gave it a splendid training 
for the stern warfare which was to follow. He was also 
elected colonel of the Forty-third regiment, but declined, 
and was tendered the colonelship of the Second cavalry, 
which he refused in favor of Col. Sol Williams. After 
rendering valuable service in the organization of North 
Carolina troops, he went into the Seven Days’ campaign 
before Richmond in command as senior colonel of a bri¬ 
gade composed of the Forty-third, Fiftieth and Forty- 
fifth infantry, and Burroughs’ battalion of cavalry. He 
behaved gallantly under fire at Malvern Hill and nar¬ 
rowly escaped injury, his horse being killed under him. 
Early in September he was commissioned brigadier-gen¬ 
eral, and the Thirty-second, Forty-third, Forty-fifth, 
Fifty-third regiments and Second battalion were put 
under his command. With this brigade he remained 
near Drewry’s bluff until December, 1862, when he was 
ordered to North Carolina to meet the Federal invasion. 
Just before the Pennsylvania campaign he and his men 
were transferred to Rodes’ division, Ewell’s corps, army 
of Northern Virginia, with which they took part in the 
battle of Gettysburg. He was distinguished for cool¬ 
ness and intrepid conduct during the fierce fighting of 
the first day of that historic struggle, in which his bri¬ 
gade suffered the severest loss of any in the corps, but 
displayed wonderful discipline and drove the enemy 
before them. They were again in hard fighting on the 
second day, and lay under fire during the third. His last 
battle was at the “bloody angle” on the Spottsylvania 
lines, May 12, 1864, when, cheering his men forward to 
drive Hancock from the position the Federals had gained, 
he fell mortally wounded. On the next day he died, 
after sending a loving message to his wife. He was 
a thorough soldier, calm, resolute and unpretending. 
Before his untimely death he had been recommended by 
General Lee for promotion to major-general. 


308 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Brigadier-General Richard C. Gatlin was a native of 
North Carolina, and was appointed from that State to the 
United States military academy, where he was graduated 
in 1832, in the same class with Generals Ewell, Archer 
and Humphrey Marshall. He received a lieutenancy in 
the Seventh infantry, and served on frontier duty in 
Indian Territory, in the Florida war, 1839-42, and was 
subsequently stationed in Louisiana until 1845, when he 
joined the army of occupation in Texas, and was pro¬ 
moted to captain. He participated in the war with Mex¬ 
ico, being engaged in the defense of Fort Brown in May, 
1846; was wounded in storming the enemy’s works at 
Monterey, and received the brevet of major. In 1847 he 
was tendered the commission of colonel, First North 
Carolina volunteers, but declined it. Subsequently he 
served in Missouri and Louisiana, took part in the Semi¬ 
nole war of 1849-50, and was on frontier duty in Kansas, 
Indian Territory, Arkansas and Dakota until he marched 
with Johnston to Utah. In i860 he shared the march to 
New Mexico; was stationed at Fort Craig, and was 
promoted major of Fifth infantry in February, 1861. 
While on a visit to Fort Smith, Ark., on April 23, 1861, 
he was captured by the forces of the State, and released 
on parole, after which he resigned his commission and 
tendered his services to his native State. He was 
appointed adjutant-general of the State, with the 
rank of major-general of militia, and received the com¬ 
mission of colonel of infantry, in the regular army of 
the Confederate States. Subsequently he was given 
command of the Southern department, coast defense, with 
headquarters at Wilmington, and being promoted briga¬ 
dier-general in August, 1861, was assigned to command 
of the department of North Carolina and the coast 
defenses of the State. Very soon afterward Fort Hat- 
teras was taken by the Federals, and he made energetic 
preparations for the defense of New Bern. He located 
his headquarters at Goldsboro in September, Gen. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


309 


J. R. Anderson having charge under him of coast 
defenses, and organized troops and prepared for 
resisting invasion. Upon his suggestion an additional 
coast district was formed and Gen. D. H. Hill put in 
command. The exigencies of the service in other quar¬ 
ters prevented the sending of reinforcements, which he 
repeatedly called for, and in March, 1862, New Bern 
fell into the hands of the enemy. He was at this time 
suffering from a severe illness, and on this account, on 
March 19, 1862, was relieved from duty. In his final 
report he stated that “we failed to make timely efforts 
to maintain the ascendency on Pamlico sound, and thus 
admitted Burnside’s fleet without a contest; we failed 
to put a proper force on Roanoke island, and thus lost 
the key to our interior coast, and we failed to furnish 
General Branch with a reasonable force, and thus lost 
the important town of New Bern. What I claim is that 
these failures do not by right rest with me.” Being 
advanced in years, he resigned in September, 1862, but 
subsequently served as adjutant and inspector-general of 
the State. After the close of hostilities he engaged in 
farming in Sebastian county, Ark., until 1881, and then 
made his residence at Fort Smith. He died at Mount 
Nebo, September 8, 1896, at the age of eighty-seven 
years and eight months. 

Major-General Jeremy Francis Gilmer was born in 
Guilford county, N. C., February 23, 1818. He was 
graduated at the United States military academy in 1839, 
number four in the class of which General Halleck was 
third. Receiving a second lieutenancy of engineers, he 
served in the military academy as assistant professor of 
engineering till June, 1840, and then as assistant engineer 
in building Fort Schuyler, New York harbor, until 1844, 
after which he was assistant to the chief engineer at 
Washington, D. C., until 1846, with promotion to first 
lieutenant in 1845. During the Mexican war he was 


310 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


chief engineer of the army of the West in New Mexico, 
constructing Fort Marcy at Santa Fe. He afterward 
served at Washington, and was superintending engineer 
of the repairs to various forts and the building of Forts 
Jackson and Pulaski, Georgia, and of the improvement of 
the Savannah river. In consideration of his continuous 
service of fourteen years, he was promoted captain, July 
i, 1853. After this, as a member of various commissions 
of engineers, he was continually engaged in fortification 
work, and the improvement of rivers throughout the 
South until 1858. From that time he was in charge of 
the construction of defenses at the entrance of San Fran¬ 
cisco bay until June 29, 1861, when he resigned to join 
the Confederate States army. He was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel, corps of engineers, C. S. A., in Sep¬ 
tember, 1861, and was assigned to duty as chief engineer 
of Department No. 2, on the staff of Gen. Albert Sidney 
Johnston. He was present at Fort Henry at its sur¬ 
render, and rode to the front with General Johnston at 
the opening of the battle of Shiloh. Here he was 
severely wounded late on the second day. Subse¬ 
quently he was promoted to brigadier-general, and 
on August 4, 1862, was made chief engineer of the 
department of Northern Virginia. October 4, 1862, he 
became chief of the engineer bureau of the Confederate 
States war department. In 1863 he was promoted 
major-general and assigned to duty as second in com¬ 
mand, in the department of South Carolina, Georgia and 
Florida, in which capacity he rendered valuable services 
in the defense of Charleston, and fortified Atlanta. 
Subsequently he resumed his duties as chief engineer, 
and so continued until the evacuation of Richmond. 
After the war he engaged in railroad and other enter¬ 
prises in Georgia, and from 1867 to 1883 was president 
and engineer of the Savannah gaslight company. He 
died December 1, 1883. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


811 


Brigadier-General Archibald C. Godwin, though a 
native of Norfolk county, Va., was associated throughout 
the war with the troops of North Carolina. Being 
engaged in business in the latter State at the beginning 
of hostilities, he entered the Confederate service there 
and at first received a staff appointment. Afterward he 
was commissioned colonel of the Fifty-seventh infantry, 
with which he served in the vicinity of Richmond, Va., 
during the Maryland campaign. His first battle was at 
Fredericksburg, where his regiment formed a part of 
E. M. Law’s brigade, Hood’s division. On December 
13th, during the fighting on Hood’s right, a considerable 
force of the enemy defiled from the bank of Deep run, 
and advanced upon Latimer’s battery, driving in the 
pickets and occupying the railroad cut. The Fifty- 
seventh, supported by the Fifty-fourth, was ordered for¬ 
ward, and the Federals were driven back and pursued 
some distance, after which the two regiments held the 
railroad until dark. General Hood reported that it was 
with much pleasure that he called attention to the gal¬ 
lant bearing of both officers and men of the Fifty-seventh, 
Colonel Godwin commanding, in their charge on a 
superior force of the enemy posted in a strong position. 
In the Gettysburg campaign his regiment was attached 
to Hoke’s brigade, Early’s division, Ewell’s corps. He 
participated in the defeat of Milroy at Winchester, and 
the first day’s battle at Gettysburg. Here Col. I. E. 
Avery, commanding the brigade, was mortally wounded, 
and was succeeded by Colonel Godwin, who retained 
command during the retreat. He was in command of 
three regiments of the brigade, the Sixth, Fifty-fourth 
and Fifty-seventh, during the disastrous affair at Rap¬ 
pahannock Station, November 7, 1863, and was sent 
across the river to occupy a tete-du-pont, in support of 
Hays’ brigade. They were soon assailed by overwhelm¬ 
ing numbers. Hays gave way, and Godwin soon found 
himself cut off from the bridge and completely sur- 


312 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


rounded. General Early reported that Colonel Godwin 
continued to struggle, forming successive lines as he was 
pushed back, and did not for a moment dream of sur¬ 
render ; but on the contrary, when his men had dwindled 
to sixty or seventy, the rest having been captured, killed 
or wounded, or lost in the darkness, and he was com¬ 
pletely surrounded by the enemy, who were in fact 
mixed up with his men, some one cried out that Colonel 
Godwin’s order was for them to surrender, and he imme¬ 
diately called for the man who made the declaration, and 
threatened to blow his brains out if he could find him, 
declaring his purpose to fight to the last moment, and 
calling upon his men to stand by him. He was literally 
overpowered by force of numbers, and taken with his 
arms in his hands. These facts, said Early, were learned 
from Captain Adams, of Godwin’s staff, who managed to 
make his escape after being captured, by swimming the 
river almost naked. They were in accordance with the 
character of Colonel Godwin, and General Early asked 
that a special effort be made to secure the exchange of 
the gallant officer. After returning to the army he was 
promoted brigadier-general in August, 1864, and 
assigned to the command of his old brigade, now mus¬ 
tering about 800 men. He participated in the Shenan¬ 
doah campaign under Early, until he fell, nobly doing 
his duty, in the fatal battle of Winchester, September 19, 
1864. 

Brigadier-General James B. Gordon was born Novem¬ 
ber 2, 1822, at Wilkesboro, Wilkes county, N. C., where his 
ancestors had made their home for four generations 
since the coming of John George Gordon from Scotland 
about the year 1724. In childhood he attended the 
school of Peter S. Ney, in Iredell county, afterward 
studied at Emory and Henry college, Va., and then 
engaged in mercantile business at his native town. He 
was a leader in local politics and sat in the legislature in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


313 


1850. At the first organization of troops in 1861 he 
became a lieutenant in the Wilkes county guards, which 
became Company B of the First regiment, State troops, 
with Gordon as captain. Soon afterward he was com¬ 
missioned major of the First cavalry, and went to the 
front in Virginia, where the regiment under command of 
Col. Robert Ransom was assigned to the brigade of Gen. 
J. E. B. Stuart. On November 26, 1861, he gallantly 
led the charge in the first encounter of his regiment 
with the Federal cavalry, which was also the first 
engagement of Stuart’s brigade with the same arm of the 
enemy, and was entirely successful. Thereafter he was 
among the foremost in every fight, and was frequently 
commended for bravery in the reports of Stuart. In the 
spring of 1862 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of his 
regiment, which was assigned to Wade Hampton’s bri¬ 
gade. He commanded the detachment which took part 
in Hampton’s raid on Dumfries in December, and in the 
spring of 1863 was commissioned colonel. In the fight 
at Hagerstown during the retreat from Gettysburg, a 
charge of the enemy was gallantly met and repulsed by 
Gordon with a fragment of the Fifth cavalry, “that 
officer exhibiting under my eye individual prowess deserv¬ 
ing special commendation,’’ Stuart reported. In Sep¬ 
tember, 1863, he was promoted brigadier-general and 
assigned to command of the North Carolina cavalry bri¬ 
gade, with which he defeated the enemy at Bethsaida 
church October 10th, and at Culpeper Court House, 
and took a prominent part in the fight at Auburn, where 
Colonel Ruffin was killed and he was painfully wounded, 
but “continued, by his brave example and marked ability, 
to control the field, ’ ’ and two days after commanded in 
a fight on Bull run. He led the center in the “Buck- 
land races,” driving Kilpatrick before him, and during 
the Mine Run campaign took an active part, his horse 
being shot under him at Parker’s store. In the memor¬ 
able campaign of May, 1864, Gordon’s outposts were the 

Nc 40 


314 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


first to meet the enemy as he crossed the Rapidan, and 
he fought against Grant’s army until the battle lines 
were drawn at Spottsylvania, when the cavalry hastened 
to cut off Sheridan’s raid upon Richmond. On the nth 
Stuart fell at Yellow Tavern, and Gordon, having 
defeated the enemy at Ground Squirrel church on the 
ioth, sustained the attack of Sheridan’s corps in force at 
Meadow bridge in sight of Richmond, May 12th. He 
fought with reckless daring, inspiring his men to such 
exertions that they held the enemy in check until rein¬ 
forcements could come up. The capital was saved, but 
the gallant Gordon was borne from the field mortally 
wounded. On May 18th he died in hospital at Richmond, 
deeply lamented by the army. 

Major-General Bryan Grimes was born at Grimesland, 
Pitt county, N. C., November 2, 1828, the youngest son 
of Bryan and Nancy Grimes. He was graduated at the 
university of North Carolina in 1848, then made his 
home upon a plantation in Pitt county, and in April, 
1851, was married to Elizabeth Hilliard, daughter of Dr. 
Thomas Davis, of Franklin county. This lady died a few 
years later, and in i860 he traveled in Europe, but 
returned home soon after the national election. He hast¬ 
ened to the scene of conflict at Fort Sumter as soon as he 
heard of the bombardment, and then visited Pensacola 
and New Orleans, returning to take a seat in the conven¬ 
tion of his State which adopted the ordinance of secession. 
In the latter part of May he resigned his seat in this body 
and accepted appointment as major of the Fourth 
infantry regiment, in organization at Garysburg under 
Col. George B. Anderson. He reached Virginia after 
the battle of First Manassas; May 1, 1862, was promoted 
lieutenant-colonel, and thereafter commanded his regi¬ 
ment with promotion to colonel June 19th. At Seven 
Pines every officer of the regiment but himself, and 462 
out of 520 men, were killed or wounded. His horse’s 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


315 


head was blown off by a shell, and the animal fell upon 
him, but he waved his sword and shouted, “Forward!” 
and when released from his painful position, seized the 
regimental flag and led his men in their successful 
charge. At Mechanicsville the remnant of the command 
was again distinguished. At this time General Ander¬ 
son declared, “Colonel Grimes and his regiment are the 
keystone of my brigade.” He was disabled by typhoid 
fever until the Maryland campaign, and as he went into 
that his leg was so injured by the kick of a horse that 
amputation was considered^ necessary; but nevertheless 
he took the field at Sharpsburg, and another horse was 
killed under him, the third of the seven which he thus 
lost during his career. General Anderson was mortally 
wounded in this battle, and in November Grimes was 
assigned to temporary command of the brigade, which 
he led at the battle of Fredericksburg. At Chancellors- 
ville he and his regiment were distinguished on all three 
days of battle, on the third driving the enemy from their 
breastworks at the point of the bayonet, but at the cost 
of many lives. In this fight the gallant colonel again 
narrowly escaped death. In the Pennsylvania cam¬ 
paign he and his men were in the advance of Ewell’s 
corps, and on picket eight miles from Harrisburg; and at 
Gettysburg on the first day they were the first to enter 
the village and drive the enemy to the heights beyond, 
only pausing in obedience to orders. During the retreat 
from Pennsylvania he served efficiently on the rear 
guard. At Spottsylvania Court House, after General 
Ramseur was wounded, he led the brigade in an impet¬ 
uous charge which recovered much of the ground gained 
by Hancock at the “bloody angle,” in recognition of 
which General Lee told the brigade “they deserved the 
thanks of the country—they had saved his army.” Gen¬ 
eral Daniel having been mortally wounded in this fight, 
Colonel Grimes was put in command of his brigade. On 
May 19th, after he had made an effective fight in a flank 


316 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


movement upon the enemy, General Rodes declared: 
“You have saved Ewell’s corps, and shall be promoted, 
and your commission shall bear date from this day.” 
This promise was fulfilled early in June, and soon after¬ 
ward he took his men to the Shenandoah valley, and 
joined in the movement through Maryland to Washington. 
In the fall campaign in the valley, though in impaired 
health, he did his duty gallantly and desperately 
against the overwhelming numbers of the Federals, and 
had many remarkable escapes from death or capture. 
When Ramseur fell at Cedar Creek, he took command of 
the division, which he held until the end, being pro¬ 
moted major-general in February, 1865. In spite of 
their terrible reverses, he infused such spirit in his men 
that they were able to rout 4,000 Federal cavalry at 
Rude’s hill, November 22d. In the spring of 1865 he 
fought in the Petersburg trenches, and participated with 
great gallantry in the fight at Fort Stedman, in which 
he rode a captured horse, and was a conspicuous target to 
the enemy, but still seemed to bear a charmed life. 
When his line was broken April 2d, he rushed down his 
line on foot, and seizing a musket joined in the fire upon 
the enemy, until his troops, encouraged by his coolness, 
were able to recover the greater part of their lines. Dur¬ 
ing the retreat from Petersburg he was almost constantly 
in battle; at Sailor’s Creek saved himself by riding his 
horse through the stream and up the precipitous banks 
amid a shower of bullets, and on the next day led his 
division in a splendid charge which captured the guns 
taken from Mahone and many Federal prisoners, winning 
the compliments of General Lee. Bushrod Johnson’s 
division was now added to his command, and on April 
9th the other two divisions of the corps, Evans’ and 
Walker’s, were put under his command, he having vol¬ 
unteered to make the attack to clear the road toward 
Lynchburg. He was successful in driving the enemy 
from his front, but after receiving repeated orders to 












* 















































































































































































































. „ Brig.-Gen. Wm. McRae. Britr -Gen t cer Rca-w^tt 

Map-Gen. W. D. Pender. Bris-Gen Robert R vn-r^ ' ' Branch. 

Brig.-Gen Wm P Roberts Rv oltT N ANCE - Map-Gen. Robt. F. Hoke. 

S M Mai -Gen »IATT W Ransom ‘ ' C ‘ Go ™™- r , „ Map-Gen. W. H. C. Whiting. 

luaj. uen. matt. v\ . Ransom. Brig.-Gen. Thos. F. Toon. 

















CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


317 


withdraw fell back to his original line, and was then 
informed of the proposed surrender. At first refusing 
to submit to this, he was about to call upon his men to cut 
their way out, when General Gordon reminded him of 
the interpretation which might be put upon such action 
during a truce, and he was compelled by his sense of 
honor to acquiesce. As an estimate of his character as a 
soldier, the words of Gen. D. H. Hill in March, 1863, are 
exact and comprehensive: “He has been in many pitched 
battles and has behaved most gallantly in them all. His 
gallantry, ripe experience, admirable training, intelli¬ 
gence and moral worth constitute strong claims for pro¬ 
motion.” After the close of hostilities he returned to his 
plantation. He had married in 1863, Charlotte Emily, 
daughter of Hon. John B. Bryan, of Raleigh, and sev¬ 
eral children were born to them. His life went on in 
quiet and honor until August 14, 1880, when he was shot 
by an assassin and almost instantly killed. 

Major-General Robert F. Hoke was born at Lincoln- 
ton, N. C., May 27, 1837, and was educated at the Ken¬ 
tucky military institute. He entered the military serv¬ 
ice of the State in April, 1861, as a member of Company 
K, of the First regiment, was immediately commissioned 
second lieutenant, and as captain was commended for 
“coolness, judgment and efficiency” in D. H. Hill’s 
report of the battle of Big Bethel. In September he 
became major of this regiment. At the reorganization 
he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty- 
third regiment, Col. C. M. Avery. He had command of 
five companies at the battle of New Bern, March 14, 
1862, and was distinguished for gallantry. The colonel 
being captured here, he subsequently had command of 
the regiment, and in that capacity participated with 
Branch’s brigade in the Virginia battles of Hanover 
Court House, Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill, Frayser’s 
Farm and Malvern Hill. With promotion to colonel he 


318 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


took part in the campaigns of Second Manassas and 
Sharpsburg. On the return of Colonel Avery to his 
regiment, Colonel Hoke was assigned to the command of 
the Twenty-first regiment of Trimble’s brigade, Early’s 
division. This brigade he commanded in the battle of 
Fredericksburg, and won the unstinted praises of Early 
and Jackson by the prompt and vigorous manner in 
which he drove back Meade’s troops after they had 
broken the Confederate right. He pursued the enemy, 
capturing 300 prisoners, until he found himself exposed 
to a flank attack, when he retired in good order, leav¬ 
ing part of his command to hold the railroad cut from 
which the Federals had been ousted. In January follow¬ 
ing he was promoted brigadier-general and assigned to 
the command of Trimble’s brigade, including the Sixth, 
Twenty-first, Fifty-fourth, Fifty-seventh North Carolina 
regiments and the First battalion. During the battle of 
Chancellorsville he fought at Fredericksburg, where he • 
was wounded May 4th, so seriously as to prevent his par¬ 
ticipation in the Pennsylvania and Rappahannock cam¬ 
paigns. In January, 1864, he reported to General Pickett 
at Petersburg, where his brigade was sent, and for¬ 
warded to North Carolina. In the latter part of the 
month he organized the movement against New Bern 
from Kinston. At the head of one column he successfully 
surprised and captured the enemy’s outposts, and 
defeated the troops which were thrown against him, but 
on account of the delay of the other column, was unable 
to reduce the post. On April 17th, in command of the 
Confederate forces, he attacked the Federal forts at 
Plymouth, and vigorously pushed the assaults, aided by 
the ram Albemarle against the enemy’s gunboats, until 
the garrison of 3,000 men was surrendered April 20th. 
For this brilliant achievement, which was of great value 
in moral effect at this critical period in the war, Congress 
voted him a resolution of thanks, and he was promoted 
major-general, the commission bearing the date of his vie- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


319 


tory. General Lee wrote to President Davis: “I am very 
glad of General Hoke’s promotion, though sorry to lose 
him, unless he can be sent to me with a division.” Now, 
Petersburg and Richmond being threatened by Butler, 
he was called to that field, and joining Beauregard May 
ioth, was put in command of the six brigades sent for¬ 
ward to Drewry’s bluff. Upon the further organization 
of the hastily-collected army he had charge of one of the 
three divisions, the front line being composed of his divi¬ 
sion and Ransom’s. In the battle of May 16th he 
handled his command with resolution and judgment, one 
of his brigades, Hagood’s, capturing five pieces of artil¬ 
lery. At Cold Harbor he held one of the most important 
parts of the Confederate line with his division, repelling 
repeated furious assaults, and again before Petersburg 
fought in the battles of June. From the Petersburg 
trenches he moved in December with his division to Wil¬ 
mington to confront Butler, who was frightened away 
from Fort Fisher by part of his command. After the 
landing of the second expedition under Terry, he 
advanced his two brigades and drove in the enemy’s 
pickets, and according to the accounts of the Federal 
officers, might have relieved Fort Fisher had he not been 
ordered back by General Bragg. He subsequently 
opposed the advance of Cox from New Bern. On March 
8th, while wading a swamp, his column was suddenly 
met by a fire from the enemy, when he displayed his 
presence of mind by ordering his officers to “make all 
the men cheer. ” By his coolness, what might have been 
a disaster to his own division was converted into a defeat 
of the enemy. Moving on Bragg’s right flank he vigor¬ 
ously assailed the enemy on the ioth, and on the 19th, in 
the battle of Bentonville, his division sustained gallantly 
and hurled back the heaviest attack of the Federals. On 
the 20th, Sherman’s whole army being up, the attacks 
were renewed, mainly on Hoke’s division, but were 
repulsed on every occasion. His services and those of 


320 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his men at this famous battle are among the most illus¬ 
trious examples of Confederate generalship and valor in 
the whole course of the war. As General Hampton has 
said: “Bragg, by reason of his rank, was in command of 
this division, but it was really Hoke’s division, and Hoke 
directed the fighting. ” On May ist General Hoke 
issued a farewell address to his division, in the course of 
which he said: “You are paroled prisoners, not slaves. 
The love of liberty which led you into the contest burns 
as brightly in your hearts as ever. Cherish it. Asso¬ 
ciate it with the history of your past. Transmit it to 
your children. Teach them the rights of freemen and 
teach them to maintain them. Teach them the proudest 
day in all your proud career was that on which you 
enlisted as Southern soldiers.” Upon the return of 
peace he devoted himself to the development of the 
material resources of the State, becoming the principal 
owner of the Chapel Hill iron mine, and obtaining a 
large interest in the Cranberry iron mine, in Mitchell 
county. 

Brigadier-General Robert D. Johnston, of North Caro¬ 
lina, at the time of the secession of his State, was second 
lieutenant in the Beattie’s Ford rifles, State troops. He 
entered the Confederate service as captain of Company K, 
Twenty-third North Carolina infantry, July 15, 1861. 
His regiment was on the peninsula during 1861 and the 
spring of 1862, and participated in the battle of Williams¬ 
burg. On May 21, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel. He was wounded at Seven Pines 
while gallantly leading his men, and at South Mountain 
and Sharpsburg fought with conspicuous bravery in 
Garland’s brigade. In describing the fighting on his 
part of the field near the center of the Confederate line 
at Sharpsburg, Gen. D. H. Hill reported the fact that 
the Twenty-third North Carolina was brought off by “the 
gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston” and put in posi- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


321 


tion in the sunken road, and he especially commended 
Johnston among the officers distinguished on that bloody 
field. At Chancellorsville, when Major Rowe, leading 
the Twelfth North Carolina, was killed, Lieutenant-Col¬ 
onel Johnston took command of that regiment. This 
regiment and the Twenty-third were both in Rodes’ gal¬ 
lant division, which was in the front of Jackson’s brilliant 
flank attack. In this battle the North Carolinians under 
Johnston captured a stand of the enemy’s colors. After 
Gettysburg Johnston was promoted to the rank of brig¬ 
adier-general, to date September i, 1863, and assigned to 
the command of his brigade, formerly led by Samuel 
Garland and D. K. McRae. It was composed of the 
Fifth, Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-third regiments 
and Second battalion of North Carolina infantry. This 
command fought under its gallant leader in the battles of 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, at which latter battle 
General Johnston received a severe wound. He was 
again in command during the valley campaign under 
Early, participating in the series of severe battles which 
ended with that of Cedar Creek, a victory in the morn¬ 
ing, a defeat in the afternoon. He was with his men in 
the subsequent weary winter, watching and fighting in 
the trenches around Petersburg, and was included in 
the surrender at Appomattox. After the close of hostil¬ 
ities General Johnston practiced law at Charlotte for 
twenty years from 1867 as a partner of Col. H. C. Jones. 

Brigadier-General W. W. Kirkland, as colonel of the 
Eleventh North Carolina volunteers, known later as the 
Twenty-first regiment, reached the field in Virginia in 
time to participate in the affair at Mitchell’s ford on Bull 
run, with Bonham’s brigade, on July 18, 1861. On the 
memorable 21st of July he was field officer of the day for 
the brigade, and at 2:30 a. m. brought to General Bon¬ 
ham information of the approach of the enemy toward 
the stone bridge. His regiment manfully sustained a 
Nc 41 


322 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


heavy fire through the day, and at 3 p. m. assisted in the 
pursuit of the enemy. Subsequently he was assigned to 
the brigade of Col. Jubal A. Early, and later to that of 
General Trimble, and with General Ewell’s division par¬ 
ticipated in the Shenandoah valley campaign of 1862. 
Trimble’s command opened the attack on Winchester, 
May 25th, and Kirkland and his regiment gallantly 
dashed into the western part of the town, driving in the 
pickets, and was for a time exposed to murderous fire 
from a Federal regiment posted behind a stone wall, in 
which Colonel Kirkland was wounded, and a large num¬ 
ber of officers and privates were killed or disabled. His 
wound kept him from service with his regiment until the 
Gettysburg campaign, when he resumed command, the 
brigade then being under command of Gen. R. F. Hoke, 
and temporarily under Col. I. E. Avery, and participated 
in the desperate fighting of July 1st and 2d. In August, 
1863, he was promoted to brigadier-general, and on Sep¬ 
tember 7 th was assigned to command of General Petti¬ 
grew’s old brigade of Heth’s division, A. P. Hill’s corps, 
consisting of the Eleventh, Twenty-sixth, Forty-fourth, 
Forty-seventh and Fifty-second North Carolina regi¬ 
ments. With this command he took a gallant part in the 
battle of Bristoe, October 14th, where the North Caro¬ 
linians suffered heavily in a hasty attack upon largely 
superior forces of the enemy, and he fell severely 
wounded. His gallantry was commended in the reports 
of Heth and Hill. But he was incapacitated from fur¬ 
ther active duty for nearly a year, General MacRae 
taking his place until August, 1864, when he was 
assigned to the command of the North Carolina brigade 
of Hoke’s division, formerly commanded by General Mar¬ 
tin. He served with Longstreet north of the James river, 
before Richmond, participating in the attack on Fort 
Harrison and other engagements. His brigade was one 
of the best disciplined on the line, and was compli¬ 
mented by General Lee for the fine appearance of its 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


323 


camp and defenses. Being transferred to Wilmington 
late in December, he advanced to the relief of Fort 
Fisher, and with two regiments held in check the advance 
of Butler’s forces, by his spirited action persuading that 
commander that a large body of Confederates was before 
him. Butler abandoned the attack, but it was renewed 
under Gilmore, when Kirkland again at the front skir¬ 
mished with the enemy near Sugar Loaf, but was with¬ 
drawn by Bragg. During the retreat to Wilmington he 
commanded the rear guard, was engaged at Northeast 
river, and subsequently took a prominent and dashing 
part in the fighting at Wise’s Fork against the enemy 
under Gen. J. D. Cox. At Bentonville the steadfastness 
of Kirkland and his brigade contributed materially to the 
failure of Sherman’s attempt to break the Confederate 
line. It is related that during the battle, Johnston in¬ 
quired who was responsible for heavy firing then going 
on at the moment, and was told that the enemy was at¬ 
tacking Kirkland’s brigade. Turning to Hardee, John¬ 
ston said, “I am glad of it. I would rather they would 
attack Kirkland than any one else. ’ ’ The military career 
of this gallant officer ended with the surrender at Greens¬ 
boro. 

Brigadier-General James H. Lane was born at Matthews 
Court House, Va., the son of Col. Walter G. and Mary 
A. K. (Barkwell) Lane. He was one of the two “star 
graduates’’ of his class at the Virginia military institute, 
and afterward pursued a scientific course at the university 
of Virginia. After serving on the hydrographic survey of 
York river, he was appointed assistant professor of math¬ 
ematics and tactics at the Virginia military institute, and 
later professor of those branches at the Florida State 
seminary. At the time of the formation of the Confed¬ 
erate States government he was professor of natural 
philosophy in the North Carolina military institute at 
Charlotte. With the other officers of the college he 


324 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


offered his services to the State He acted as drill- 
master and adjutant in the first camp of instruction near 
Raleigh, where he was elected major of the First North 
Carolina volunteers, Col. D. H. Hill. His first service 
was on the Virginia peninsula, where on July 8th, with a 
detachment composed of the Buncombe riflemen and 
one gun of the Richmond howitzers, he attacked and 
chased a marauding party across New Market bridge in 
full view of Old Point and Hampton, becoming respons¬ 
ible, as Colonel Hill publicly declared at the time, for 
the subsequent affair at Big Bethel. In that encounter 
he served in the salient before which Major Winthrop 
was killed. His regiment here earned the title of the 
“Bethel” regiment, and he was dubbed the “Little 
Major” and elected lieutenant-colonel when Hill was 
promoted. Not long afterward he was elected colonel of 
the Twenty-eighth North Carolina regiment, which he re¬ 
organized for the war, before the passage of the conscript 
acts. He was then again unanimously elected colonel, 
and at inspection near Kinston his command was compli¬ 
mented by General Holmes for being the first of the 
twelve months’ regiments to re-enlist for the war. He 
commanded his regiment at Hanover Court House when 
it was cut off by the overwhelming force under Fitz 
John Porter, and was praised by Generals Lee and Branch 
for the gallantry of the fight and the masterly extrica¬ 
tion from disaster. At Cold Harbor he was wounded at 
the same time that the noble Campbell fell in front of his 
regiment, colors in hand, and at Frayser’s Farm he received 
an ugly and painful wound in the face while charging a 
battery, but refused to leave the field. At Sharpsburg, 
when the brigade under Branch was hastening to the left, 
Lane and his regiment were detached by A. P. Hill and 
sent into the fight to support a battery and drive back 
the enemy. About dark Lane received an order from 
Branch to join the brigade, and when coming up met 
Major Engelhard, who, in response to an inquiry as to 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


325 


where General Branch could be found, replied in a voice 
choked with emotion: “He has just been shot; there he 
goes on that stretcher, dead, and you are in command of 
the brigade.’’ Two days after, Lane’s brigade, with 
Gregg’s and Archer’s, constituted the rear guard of the 
army in crossing the Potomac. The brigade hailed with 
delight Lane’s promotion to brigadier-general, which 
occurred November i, 1862, christened him their “Little 
General,’’ and presented him a fine sash, sword, saddle 
and bridle. He was at this time twenty-seven years old. 
In his last battle under Stonewall Jackson, Chancellors- 
ville, he and his North Carolinians fought with gallantry 
and devotion. At Gettysburg he participated in the first 
shock of battle on July 1st, and on the 3d his brigade 
and Scales’ formed the division which Trimble led up 
Cemetery hill. In this bloody sacrifice half his men 
were killed or wounded, and his horse was killed under 
him. Subsequently he was in command of the light 
division until the 12th, when it was consolidated with 
Heth’s. During 1864 he was in battle from the Rapidan 
to Cold Harbor. At Spottsylvania Court House, at the 
critical moment when Hancock, having overrun the 
famous angle and captured Johnson’s division, was about 
to advance through this break in the Confederate line, 
Lane’s brigade, stationed immediately on the right of 
the angle, rapidly drew back to an unfinished earthwork, 
in which he flung two of his regiments, while the other 
three were posted behind them to load and pass up rifles 
to the front line. Thus a terrible fire was opened upon 
the Federals, which checked their triumph and permitted 
Gordon’s and other divisions to arrive in time to hold 
the line. At Cold Harbor General Lane received a pain¬ 
ful wound in the groin which disabled him for some 
time, but he was with his brigade at Appomattox. After 
the surrender he made his way, penniless, to his child¬ 
hood home, and found his parents ruined in fortune and 
crushed in spirit by the loss of two brave sons, members 


326 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of their brother’s staff. He worked here until he could 
borrow $150 to assist him in search of other employ¬ 
ment. Since then he has been prominently associated 
with educational work in the South, serving eight years 
as commandant of cadets and professor of natural phi¬ 
losophy in the Virginia agricultural and mechanical col¬ 
lege ; for a short time as professor of mathematics in the 
school of mines of the Missouri State university, and for 
a long time with the Alabama agricultural and mechan¬ 
ical college, first acting as commandant, as well as pro¬ 
fessor of civil engineering and drawing, the chair he still 
holds. He has received the degrees of Ph. D., from the 
university of West Virginia, and LL. D., from Trinity 
college, North Carolina. At the first interment of Pres¬ 
ident Davis he was one of the three guards of honor. 
General Lane married Charlotte Randolph Meade, of 
Richmond, who died several years ago, leaving four 
daughters. 

Brigadier-General Collett Leventhorpe was born May 
15, 1815, at Exmouth, Devonshire, England, where his 
parents were then temporarily residing. He was 
descended from an ancient and knightly family of Leven¬ 
thorpe hall, Yorkshire, who settled in Hertfordshire dur¬ 
ing the reign of Richard II, and were created baronets by 
James I. One ancestor was an executor of Henry V, 
and another married Dorothy, sister of Jane Seymour, 
third wife of Henry VIII. General Leventhorpe derived 
his Christian name from his mother, Mary Collett, a 
descendant of a brother of the first lord of Suffield. He 
was educated at Winchester college, and at the age of 
seventeen was commissioned ensign in the Fourteenth 
regiment of foot, by William IV. He was promoted 
captain of grenadiers, served three years in Ireland, 
several years in the West Indies, and a year in Canada. 
In 1842 he disposed of his commission, returned to Eng¬ 
land, and thence came to the United States and settled in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


327 


North Carolina, where his high character and many 
accomplishments soon made him popular and prominent. 
In 1849 he married Louisa, second daughter of Gen. 
Edmund Bryan, of Rutherfordton, N. C., and during 
the following years he became thoroughly identified 
with the interests of his adopted State. When North 
Carolina joined in the Confederate movement he offered 
her his military services, and upon the organization of 
the Thirty-fourth regiment was unanimously chosen its 
first colonel, in November, 1861. He soon brought his 
regiment to such a remarkable state of discipline and 
training, that in the latter part of December he was 
given command of a brigade, including the Thirty-third, 
Thirty-fourth, Thirty-seventh and part of a new regi¬ 
ment, at Raleigh. April 2, 1862, he was elected colonel of 
the Eleventh, formerly First or “Bethel” regiment, and 
at Wilmington was put in charge of a brigade, composed 
of his regiment and the Forty-third and Fifty-first, and 
Moore’s horse artillery, to which two more regiments 
were added later. He remained in command of the dis¬ 
trict of Wilmington until September, when General 
Clingman was assigned, but on account of the prevalence 
of yellow fever, Colonel Leventhorpe was left in charge 
until he was ordered with his brigade to the Blackwater, 
where he was on duty some time, defending a line of 
twenty-six miles. His admirable disposition of troops 
and active defensive operations prevented any Federal 
success in that quarter. General Pryor relieved him in 
December, but kept Leventhorpe in command in the 
field. Early in January, 1863, returning into North Car¬ 
olina, he fought the battle of White Hall, and won a bril¬ 
liant victory. At this time his regiment was reported as 
the best drilled in the service, and received many com¬ 
pliments. In all drilling contests the Eleventh North 
Carolina was barred, a tribute to its superiority. He 
participated in the siege of Washington in the spring of 
1863, defeating an attack by the enemy April 9th, at 


328 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Blount’s mill. Then with his regiment he joined the 
army of Northern Virginia, and fought at Gettysburg in 
Pettigrew’s brigade of Heth’s division. In the fierce 
battle of the first day he was a conspicuous figure and fell 
severely wounded, and thus was prevented from taking 
part in the desperate charge of the 3d of July, in which 
his regiment was among the bravest of the heroes of 
Pettigrew’s division. During the retreat he was cap¬ 
tured, and it became necessary to cauterize his wound 
with nitric acid, an operation to which he submitted, 
without recourse to anesthetics. After an imprisonment 
of nearly nine months he was exchanged from Point 
Lookout. He then accepted from General Vance a com¬ 
mission as brigadier-general of State troops, and com¬ 
mand of a large body of Confederate troops. He cleared 
the enemy from the Roanoke river, and defended that 
important line of communication, the Weldon railroad. 
In February, 1865, he was commissioned brigadier-gen¬ 
eral in the Confederate army, and in this rank he served 
with Johnston’s army until the surrender. After the 
close of hostilities he devoted himself to various business 
enterprises, made several journeys to England, resided in 
New York for some time, but finally returned to the 
valley of the Yadkin, where he remained until his death, 
December 1, 1889. General Leventhorpe was a notably 
handsome man, nearly six and a half feet in height, erect 
and stately in bearing, and gentle as well as brave. He 
was faithfully devoted to the South, and the rank he 
attained, considering his natural aversion to self-aggran¬ 
dizement, does not adequately measure the value of his 
services. 

Brigadier-General William G. Lewis, of North Caro¬ 
lina, began his service in the Confederate army as third 
lieutenant of Company A, First North Carolina infantry, 
April 21, 1861. By the close of the year he had shown such 
efficiency as an officer that we find him on January 17, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


329 


1862, major of the Thirty-third North Carolina, and be¬ 
fore the active campaign of 1862 had fairly begun, lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel of the Forty-third North Carolina infantry, 
April 25, 1862. In the Gettysburg campaign this regi¬ 
ment was in the brigade of Gen. Junius Daniel, of Rodes’ 
division and Ewell’s corps. On June 10, 1863, Ewell’s 
corps left Brandy Station, and two days later reached 
Cedarville, whence Ewell sent Rodes and Jenkins to 
capture Martinsburg, while he with Early’s and Edward 
Johnson’s divisions marched directly upon Winchester. 
On June 14th Ewell captured Winchester and Rodes cap¬ 
tured Martinsburg. The valley was thus cleared of Fed¬ 
eral troops, 4,000 of whom were captured. Immense 
supplies were the spoils of the Confederates, who marched 
on and crossed the Potomac. In his report of the battle 
of Gettysburg, Gen. Junius Daniel, after giving an account 
of the part acted by his brigade, makes special mention 
of Lieut.-Col. W. G. Lewis among others, and adds, 
“These officers all acted with bravery and coolness, as did 
all my officers and men whose conduct came under my 
observation, but the above were more conspicuous than 
the rest. ” Lewis participated with credit in the siege 
and capture of Plymouth, N. C., in April, 1864, winning 
promotion to colonel, and then, being ordered to Peters¬ 
burg, won the rank of brigadier-general in Beaure¬ 
gard’s campaign against Butler. Here he was in com¬ 
mand of Hoke’s old brigade, the Sixth, Twenty-first, 
Fifty-fourth and Fifty-seventh North Carolina regi¬ 
ments and First battalion, which was assigned to the 
division of Gen. Robert Ransom. The latter, in his 
report of the battle of Drewry’s bluff, May 16th, said that 
after they had gained the enemy’s outer works, and were 
in confusion in the midst of a dense fog, a sudden assault 
was delivered by the Federals, driving back the left of 
Hoke’s division. Though ammunition was almost ex¬ 
hausted, “Colonel Lewis was ordered to throw the only 
regiment he had in hand at double-quick’’ to the point 

Nc 42 


330 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of danger, “which was handsomely done, and he engaged 
the enemy long enough to allow Colquitt’s brigade, of the 
reserve, to arrive. ” In command of his brigade, assigned 
to Ramseur’s division, General Lewis participated in 
Early’s victorious march down the Shenandoah valley 
and through Maryland to Washington, and in the hard 
battles with Sheridan in the valley, during the remainder 
of 1864, and then returning to Richmond and Petersburg 
was on duty there until the retreat westward. In a des¬ 
perate fight of the rear guard at Farmville, April 7th, he 
was severely wounded and taken prisoner. This gallant 
officer participated in thirty-seven battles and heavy 
skirmishes. His life since the war has been one of activity 
and honor. He has served as State engineer thirteen 
years, and at present is chief engineer of the Albany & 
Raleigh railroad, with his residence at Goldsboro. 

Brigadier-General William MacRae was born at Wil¬ 
mington, N. C., September 9, 1834, the son of Gen. 
Alexander MacRae, whose wife was the daughter of 
Zilpah McClammy. His family was descended from the 
clan MacRae, of Rosshire, Scotland, whose valor is 
recorded in the history of many famous wars, from the 
Crusades to Waterloo. He was educated for the profes¬ 
sion of civil engineering, in which he was occupied at 
Monroe when the crisis arrived between the North and 
South. He at once enlisted as a private in the Monroe 
light infantry, and was elected captain when it became 
Company B, Fifteenth infantry. In April, 1862, he was 
promoted lieutenant-colonel; in February, 1863, colonel, 
and in 1864 was commissioned brigadier-general. In the 
peninsular campaign in Virginia and at Second Manassas 
his regiment was a part of Howell Cobb’s brigade, first 
under the division command of Magruder and later of 
McLaws. At Sharpsburg he commanded the brigade, 
reduced to 250 men, repelled three assaults of the enemy, 
and fell back when he had but 50 men left and the am- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


331 


munition was exhausted. At Fredericksburg he fought 
with his regiment at Marye’s hill. Immediately after 
this battle the Fifteenth was transferred to J. R. Cooke’s 
North Carolina brigade, with which he served in his native 
State and southeast Virginia until after the Pennsylvania 
campaign. Rejoining the army of Northern Virginia, 
he was distinguished for valor at the battle of Bristoe 
Station. After General Kirkland was wounded at Cold 
Harbor, 1864, Colonel MacRae, with the temporary rank 
of brigadier-general, was assigned to the command of that 
brigade, General Pettigrew’s old command, and he proved 
a fit leader for the heroes which composed it. He was 
identified with the record of Hill’s Third army corps dur¬ 
ing the Richmond campaign, among the bravest of the 
brave. At Reams’ Station, August 25, 1864, the brigade 
under his command, in line with Lane and Cooke, advanced 
at double-quick without firing a gun, drove Hancock’s 
corps from its intrenchments in their front, and captured 
a Federal battery which was fought with valor equal to 
that of its assailants. It may be said that the success of 
this assault was largely due to the keenness of General 
MacRae in selecting the moment to strike without wait¬ 
ing for orders. At Burgess’ Mill, October 27, 1864, he 
displayed remarkable coolness and gallantry. Having 
advanced against the enemy, broken his line and captured 
a battery, he was left unsupported while the Federals 
closed about him. In this predicament he drew back his 
flanks and kept up a desperate fight, holding the enemy 
at bay until night approached, when he cut his way back 
through the Federal lines partly formed in his rear. He 
was with the army to the end at Appomattox, and then 
returned to his native State, penniless, but enshrined in 
the hearts of his countrymen. He had not gained high 
rank speedily during his service, but his ability, as well 
as his modesty, was recognized by General Lee as well 
as by the people, and it was generally understood that a 
major-general’s commission would in a measure have 


332 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


rewarded his services if the war had not come to a sudden 
close. In civil life, during the years of peace which fol¬ 
lowed, he was conspicuous as general superintendent of 
the Wilmington & Manchester railroad, later of the 
Macon & Brunswick, and finally of the State road of 
Georgia, now known as the Western & Atlantic. His 
intense application to the duties of these positions wrecked 
his strength, and he died at Augusta, Ga., February n, 
1882, at the age of forty-seven years. 

Brigadier-General James Green Martin was born at 
Elizabeth City, N. C., February 14, 1819. He was gradu¬ 
ated at the United States military academy in 1840, num¬ 
ber fourteen in the class of which Richard S. Ewell was 
thirteenth, and George H. Thomas twelfth. With promo¬ 
tion to a lieutenancy in the artillery, he served mainly on 
the northern coast, on the Maine frontier, and in the coast 
survey, until he went into the war with Mexico, where 
he participated in the battles of Monterey, Vera Cruz, 
Cerro Gordo, Contreras and Churubusco, in the latter 
losing his right arm. He had previously been promoted 
captain of staff, and was brevetted major. At the out¬ 
break of the war of 1861, he was on staff duty at Fort 
Riley. Resigning June 14, 1861, he offered his services 
to North Carolina, was commissioned captain of cavalry, 
C. S. A., and appointed adjutant-general of the State, a 
position in which he rendered valuable service in the 
organization and equipment of troops. At his sugges¬ 
tion, blockade-running ships were first employed to bring 
supplies from Europe. On September 28, 1861, he was 
appointed commander-in-chief of the State forces, with 
the rank of major-general of militia. With due appreci¬ 
ation of the gravity of the struggle, he raised 12,000 more 
men than his State’s quota, which were found of great 
service when hastily called into the field in Virginia when 
McClellan made his advance from Yorktown. After 
General Martin had completed this work he applied for 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


333 


duty in the field, and in May, 1862, was promoted briga¬ 
dier-general in the provisional army, Confederate States. 
In August, 1862, he was given command of the district 
of North Carolina, with headquarters at Kinston. In the 
fall of 1863 he was directed to organize a brigade from 
the troops at his disposal and take the field. With this 
brigade, composed of the Seventeenth, Forty-second, 
Fiftieth and Sixty-sixth regiments, he went into camp 
near Wilmington and soon had as well-drilled and equip¬ 
ped a command as the Confederate army possessed. 
When Pickett made his demonstration against New Bern 
in February, 1864, Martin successfully attacked and 
drove the Federals from Newport. When the campaign 
of 1864 opened in Virginia he was called to Petersburg, 
and reaching there May 14th, was first in the field under 
Whiting. D. H. Hill was in command of the division 
May 20th, and Martin and his brigade won distinction by 
their gallant charge, driving the enemy from the works 
in their front. After this battle of Howlett’s House, his 
men carried him around on their shoulders, shouting: 
“Three cheers for Old One Wing,” much to the surprise 
of the gallant officer, whose stern discipline had not been 
calculated to inspire affection. After this Martin was 
the object of the warm admiration of his men. The bri¬ 
gade now was assigned to Hoke’s division, and rein¬ 
forced Lee at Turkey ridge, where they gallantly repulsed 
the enemy’s assaults on June 3d, and for about ten days 
afterward were engaged in a sharpshooting fight along 
the line. Lee, believing Grant would make another 
attack, informed Martin that he held the key to the Con¬ 
federate position, and asked if his troops, comparatively 
new, could be relied upon. Martin promptly responded 
that his men were as good as veterans, but that he 
thought he should be transferred to the south of the 
James, as he believed Grant would attack Richmond 
from the rear. This opinion was soon verified, and 
Martin’s brigade being hastily transferred to Petersburg, 


334 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


marched out where there was not a Confederate line be¬ 
tween that city and the enemy. In the famous battles 
of June before Petersburg, Martin and his brigade dis¬ 
played courage, discipline and fortitude unsurpassed by 
any. During the siege which followed, General Martin’s 
health gave way under the strain and exposure, and he 
was transferred to the command of the district of Western 
North Carolina, with headquarters at Asheville, his field 
of service at the close of the war. After he had left the 
army of Northern Virginia, General Lee one day highly 
complimented his old brigade for faithful obedience to 
orders, and when reminded by General Kirkland that the 
praise was largely due to his predecessor, replied: 
“General Martin is one to whom North Carolina owes a 
debt she can never repay.” The gallant brigade was 
almost continuously under fire, was never driven from 
a position, and never failed in an attack. After the close 
of hostilities General Martin found himself bereft of the 
considerable property he had previously held, and man¬ 
fully took up the study of law, a profession in which he 
met with success, practicing at Asheville during the re¬ 
mainder of his life. He died October 4, 1878. 

Major-General William Dorsey Pender was born in 
Edgecomb county, N. C., February 6, 1834, at the country 
home of his father, James Pender, a descendant of Edwin 
Pender, who settled near Norfolk in the reign of Charles 
II. The mother of General Pender was Sarah Routh, 
daughter of William Routh, of Tidewater, Va. He was 
graduated at the United States military academy in 1854, 
the class of Custis Lee, Stephen D. Lee and J. E. B. 
Stuart. His first commissions were in the artillery, but 
in 1855 he secured a transfer to the First dragoons, and 
in 1858 was promoted first lieutenant. He had an active 
career in the old army, in New Mexico, California, 
Washington and Oregon, fighting the Apaches at Amalgre 
mountain, Four lakes and Spokane plains. He served 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


335 


as adjutant of his regiment during the latter months of 
i860, and was then ordered on recruiting service at Car¬ 
lisle, Pa. On March 3, 1859, he had married Mary 
Frances, daughter of Hon. Augustine H. Shepperd, of 
Salem, and after reaching Washington they made a visit 
to their native State. Here he observed the situation 
and determined to go with North Carolina, consequently 
resigning his commission and accepting that of captain 
of artillery in the Confederate army. His first service 
was in charge of the recruiting depot at Baltimore, 
whence he returned to North Carolina, and made ready 
for service the First, or Bethel, regiment. On May 16th, 
being post commandant at Garysburg, he was elected 
colonel of the Third infantry. He was with this com¬ 
mand at Suffolk until in August, 1861, when he took com¬ 
mand of Fisher’s famous Sixth regiment at Manassas. 
At Seven Pines, while advancing into action, he suddenly 
found himself menaced on the flank and rear by a Federal 
command, but in a flash gave the order, “By the left 
flank, file right, double-quick,” his splendidly-drilled 
regiment responding as if on parade, and before the 
enemy could complete his formation assailed with such 
vigor that all danger was past. A brigade joining in the 
attack was repulsed and Colonel Pender reformed its ranks 
with great coolness. President Davis, who witnessed his 
conduct, said to him on the field, “General Pender, I 
salute you, ” and three days later he was put in command 
of Pettigrew’s brigade. His commission as brigadier- 
general was dated from this day, June 3d. At Beaver 
Dam he led two desperate assaults ordered against the 
Federal works, in which his men suffered great slaughter, 
but bore themselves as heroes. He fought next day at 
Cold Harbor, then at Frayser’s Farm, and at Cedar Run, 
by a skillful and energetic flank movement, saved the day. 
At Second Manassas he exposed himself almost recklessly, 
fighting like Ney. At Chantilly he led the movement, 
and was again wounded. At Winchester, Harper’s Ferry 


336 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and Sharpsburg he was a heroic figure, and at Fredericks¬ 
burg, where he was wounded, he and his brigade received 
great praise for coolness and steadiness under heavy fire. 
At Chancellorsville, General Jackson, after receiving his 
fatal wound, recognized in the darkness the gallant Pen¬ 
der near him, and said, “You must hold your ground, 
General Pender, you must hold your ground, sir.” This 
last command of Stonewall Jackson’s was obeyed, and 
more, for in General Lee’s report of the next day’s fight, 
it is recorded that “General Pender led his brigade to 
the attack under a destructive fire, bearing the colors of 
a regiment in his own hands up to and over the intrench- 
ments, with the most distinguished gallantry.” After 
the wounding of A. P. Hill, Pender took command of 
the “Light division,” and was himself wounded in the 
battle. General Lee recommended his permanent as¬ 
signment to this position, as “an excellent officer, atten¬ 
tive, industrious and brave; has been conspicuous in 
every battle, and I believe wounded in almost all of 
them.” He was promoted major-general May 27, 1863. 
At this time he was just twenty-nine years of age, and 
very attractive as well as soldierly in appearance. His 
height was about five feet ten, his carriage graceful, 
complexion a clear olive, head faultless in shape, eyes 
large and lustrous. His manner was both dignified and 
modest. So reserved was he that Jackson knew him only 
by his gallantry in battle, the discipline of his troops and 
the orderliness of his camps, after Pender had fought 
under him in half a dozen battles. Pender’s first battle 
as a major-general was Gettysburg, and unhappily it was 
his last. On July 1st his division drove the enemy from 
Seminary ridge. On the second day, while riding down 
his line to order an assault on Cemetery hill, he was 
struck by a fragment of shell and mortally wounded. 
He lived to be carried to Staunton on the retreat, where 
his leg was amputated July 18th, an operation which he 
survived only a few hours. His body was interred at 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


337 


Tarboro, in Calvary churchyard. His wife and three 
sons survived him, Samuel Turner, William D. and 
Stephen Lee Pender. Gen. G. C. Wharton has related, 
that in a conversation with A. P. Hill and himself, Gen¬ 
eral Lee said: “I ought not to have fought the battle 
at Gettysburg; it was a mistake. But the stakes were 
so great I was compelled to play; for had we succeeded, 
Harrisburg, Baltimore and Washington were in our 
hands; and we would have succeeded had Pender lived.” 
It is a tradition that Lee regarded him as the officer who 
should take the place of Stonewall Jackson. However 
that may be, General Lee wrote in his official report: 
“The loss of Major-General Pender is severely felt by the 
army and the country. He served with this army from 
the beginning of the war, and took a distinguished part 
in all its engagements. Wounded on several occasions, 
he never left his command in action until he received the 
injury that resulted in his death. Plis promise and use¬ 
fulness as an officer were only equaled by the purity and 
excellence of his private life.” Gen. A. P. Hill wrote: 
“No man fell during this bloody battle of Gettysburg 
more regretted than he, nor around whose youthful 
brow were clustered brighter rays of glory.” 

Brigadier-General James Johnston Pettigrew was born 
on the shores of Lake Scuppernong, in Tyrrell county, 
N. C., July 4, 1828, at“Bonarva,” the home of his father, 
Ebenezer Pettigrew, representative in Congress. The 
family was founded in America by James, youngest 
son of James Pettigrew, an officer of King William’s 
army, rewarded by a grant of land for gallantry at the 
battle of the Boyne. Charles, son of the founder, was 
chosen the first bishop of North Carolina. Young Petti¬ 
grew was graduated at the State university in 1847, with 
such distinction that President Polk, who attended the 
commencement, accompanied by Commodore Maury, 
offered the young student one of the assistant professor- 
Nc 43 


338 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ships in the observatory at Washington. He held this 
position until 1848, when he began study for the profes¬ 
sion of law, which he completed under his distinguished 
relative, James L. Pettigrew, of South Carolina. After 
traveling in Europe two years he entered upon the prac¬ 
tice of his profession at Charleston, and in 1856 was 
elected to the South Carolina legislature. In 1859 he 
again visited Europe and sought to enter the Sardinian 
service during the Italian war, but was prevented by the 
early close of that struggle. Returning, he took an active 
part in the military organization of Charleston, and be¬ 
came colonel of the First regiment of rifles of that city. 
During the early operations in Charleston harbor, he was 
in command at Castle Pinckney, and later on Morris island. 
On account of some disagreement about the admission of 
his regiment to the Confederate service, he went to Rich¬ 
mond and enlisted in the Hampton legion, but in May, 
1861, received a commission as colonel of the Twenty- 
second North Carolina infantry. With this regiment he 
was engaged in constructing and guarding batteries at 
Evansport, on the Potomac, until the spring of 1862. He 
was then, without solicitation and over his objections, 
promoted brigadier-general, and assigned to a brigade 
which he led to the peninsula. At the battle of Seven 
Pines, July 1st, in which his brigade lost heavily, he was 
severely wounded in the shoulder, and while lying uncon¬ 
scious on the field was captured. He was confined as a 
prisoner two months, during which he asked that his 
rank might be reduced so that he could be more easily 
exchanged. But without this sacrifice he returned to the 
service,and while yet an invalid was assigned to command 
at Petersburg, and a new brigade of North Carolinians was 
formed for him. He operated with much skill and gal¬ 
lantry in North Carolina in the fall of 1862 and spring of 
1863, defended Richmond against Stoneman’s raid, and 
then accompanied Lee to Pennsylvania, his brigade form¬ 
ing a part of Heth’s division, A. P. Hill’s corps. The 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


339 


conduct of his men on the first day of the battle of Gettys¬ 
burg was magnificent, and their loss was terrible. Gen¬ 
eral Heth being wounded, Pettigrew took command of 
the shattered division, and on the third day led it in the 
immortal charge against the Federal position on Ceme¬ 
tery hill. A remnant of his brave men gained the Fed¬ 
eral lines, but were crushed back by sheer weight of lead 
and iron. At Gettysburg his brigade suffered the great¬ 
est loss in killed and wounded of any brigade in the army, 
over i, i oo out of a total of 3,000. Though painfully wound¬ 
ed in the hand, Pettigrew kept the field, and was on duty 
during the painful retreat which followed. On the morn¬ 
ing of July 14th, Heth’s division reached the Potomac at 
Falling Waters, and while Pettigrew was receiving or¬ 
ders from Heth to remain there in command of the rear 
guard, a body of about forty Federal cavalrymen, who 
had been allowed to approach under the error that they 
were Confederates, dashed recklessly into the Confeder¬ 
ate troops, demanding surrender. General Pettigrew’s 
horse took fright and threw him to the ground. Rising 
he drew his pistol, and was about to take part in the 
skirmish, when he was shot and mortally wounded. He 
was borne tenderly across the river and to a hospitable 
home at Bunker Hill, Va., where he yielded his life with 
Christian resignation, July 17, 1863. 

Brigadier-General Gabriel J. Rains was born in Craven 
county, N. C., June, 1803, the son of Gabriel M. Rains, 
and was educated at West Point, with graduation in the 
class of 1827, of which Leonidas Polk was a member. 
He was given a lieutenancy in the Seventh infantry, and 
during his service in the West, mainly in Indian Ter¬ 
ritory, won promotion to captain by the close of 1837. 
Participating in the Florida war against the Seminole 
Indians, he defeated a large body of the savages near 
Fort King, April 28, 1840, but was so severely wounded 
that an announcement of his death was widely published. 


S40 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


He received the brevet of major for his gallantry on this 
field. Returning to duty, he served at the Louisiana and 
Florida posts and in the military occupation of Texas. 
At Fort Brown in 1846 he gave the deciding vote in 
the council of officers against capitulation to General 
Ampudia and took an active part in the defense. He 
was at the battle of Resaca de la Palma, and immedi¬ 
ately after was detailed on recruiting service, in which 
he was quite successful. In March, 1851, he was pro¬ 
moted to major, and in the following year was sent by 
sea to California. On the Pacific coast he made a fine 
reputation as an Indian fighter, and in i860 was promot¬ 
ed to lieutenant-colonel. Upon the organization of the 
Confederate States he resigned from the United States 
service and was commissioned colonel of infantry in the 
regular army. In September he was commissioned briga¬ 
dier-general and assigned by General Magruder to com¬ 
mand of one of the brigades on the Yorktown, Va., 
lines. Soon afterward he was given charge of the first 
division of Magruder’s army, the second being under 
General McLaws. He took a prominent part in the de¬ 
fense of Yorktown, and in command of a brigade of Ala¬ 
bama and Georgia regiments participated in the battles 
of Williamsburg and Seven Pines. In the latter con¬ 
flict he made an opportune flank movement under great 
difficulties through a swamp and attacked the enemy. 
He was subsequently put in charge of the bureau of con¬ 
scription at Richmond, and during his service in this 
capacity he began the organization of a plan of torpedo 
protection for the Southern harbors, which he subse¬ 
quently put in successful operation at Charleston, Mobile, 
Savannah and other ports, also invented an explosive 
sub-terra shell, which was an effective weapon of defense. 
He was appointed chief of the torpedo bureau, June 17, 
1864. At the close of the war he made his home at 
Augusta, Ga., and subsequently removed to South 
Carolina. From 1877 to 1880 he was connected with the 



. _ _ Maj.-Gen. Robert Ransom, Jr. Brig.-Gen. R. C. Gatlin. 

Maj.-Gen. S. D. Ramseur. Brig.-Gen. James II. Lane. Brig.-Gen. C. Leventhorde 

Brig.-Gen. J. J. Pettigrew. Maj.-Gen. Jas. B. Gordon. Maj.-Gen. J. F. Gilmer 

Brig.-Gen. W illiam R. Cox. Brig.-Gen. Alfred M. Scales. 



































* 












































































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


341 


quartermaster’s department, United States army, at 
Charleston. He died at Aiken, S. C., August 6, 1881. 

Major-General Stephen Dodson Ramseur was born 
May 31, 1837, at Lincolnton, N. C., son of Jacob A. and 
Lucy M. Ramseur. Among his ancestors was John Wil- 
fong, a revolutionary hero, who fought valiantly at 
King’s Mountain and Eutaw Springs. He was educated 
at the United States military academy, with graduation 
in i860, and was promoted to lieutenant in the Fourth 
artillery. His brief service in the United States army 
was rendered at Fortress Monroe and Washington, 
D. C., and was ended by his resignation April 6, 1861, to 
enter the service of the Confederate States government. 
He was offered the command of the Ellis light artillery, 
of Raleigh, was commissioned major of State troops, 
and was ordered to Smithfield, Va. He served at 
Yorktown, during the siege by McClellan, in command 
of artillery. Subsequently he was elected colonel of the 
Forty-ninth regiment of North Carolina infantry, of 
Robert Ransom’s brigade, in which rank he won distinc¬ 
tion during the Seven Days’ battles, and was severely 
wounded in the fatal charge at Malvern Hill. On Octo¬ 
ber 27, 1862, General Lee recommended his promotion to 
brigadier-general as successor to the lamented George 
B. Anderson, of D. H. Hill’s division. With this rank 
he was able to take the field after the battle of Freder¬ 
icksburg. At Chancellorsville he led the advance of the 
division, then under Rodes, and in the fight on Sunday 
was conspicuous for determined valor. General Lee, 
writing to Governor Vance, June 4th, said of his brigade: 
“I consider its brigade and regimental commanders as 
among the best of their respective grades in the army, 
and in the battle of Chancellorsville, where the brigade 
was much distinguished and suffered severely, General 
Ramseur was among those whose conduct was especially 
commended to my notice by Lieutenant-General Jack- 


342 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


son, in a message sent to me after he was wounded. ’ ’ 
At Gettysburg he rendered invaluable service at the crit¬ 
ical period on the first day when Iverson was repulsed, 
turned the enemy’s flank and gained possession of the 
town. His skill and gallantry were commended by 
Rodes and Ewell. During the terrific fighting of May, 
1864, he, with his brigade of heroes led by Parker, 
Grimes, Bennett and Cox, rendered services which re¬ 
ceived the thanks of Ewell and Lee upon the field. At 
first in reserve, he moved at double-quick on May 7th to 
meet the advance of Burnside, who sought to cut off the 
Second corps, and drove back the enemy’s line of battle 
half a mile. On the night of the same day by another 
rapid movement he saved Humphreys’ right flank from 
a similar attack. Immediately after Hancock’s success¬ 
ful attack on the morning of May 12th at the “bloody 
angle,’’ he was ordered to drive the enemy out of the 
works. He instructed his men to keep the alignment, 
move forward slowly without firing until the order 
“Charge,” and then not to stop till the works were 
cleared. Before he was able to give the word “Charge” 
his horse was shot under him and a ball tore through his 
arm, but Grimes gave the order for him at the right 
time, and the brigade swept everything before it, and 
held the works under a murderous fire, both direct and 
enfilade, during the whole day. General Ewell alluded 
to this movement in his official report as “a charge of 
unsurpassed gallantry.” Though painfully wounded, 
Ramseur refused to leave the field, and on the 19th led 
an attack on the enemy’s flank. On the 27th he was 
assigned to the command of the division of General 
Early, with the rank of major-general. After the battle 
of Cold Harbor, his division was the first to reach Lynch¬ 
burg to relieve the siege, attacked the retreating enemy 
at Liberty, and following him to Harper’s Ferry took 
part in the expedition through Maryland, the battle at 
Monocacy, and the demonstration against the United 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


343 


States capital. On the return to the Shenandoah valley 
he suffered a reverse at Winchester in July, though as 
General Rodes testified, “he acted most heroically, and 
as usual exposed himself recklessly. ” He patiently sub¬ 
mitted to adverse criticism, and continued to fight with 
devotion. At the September battle of Winchester he 
bore the brunt of Sheridan’s attack without wavering, 
withdrew his division in order, and repulsed the enemy’s 
pursuit near Kernstown. At the battle of Cedar Creek, 
October 19th, his division had an effective part in the 
initial defeat of the enemy, and after the main army had 
fallen back, Ramseur succeeded in retaining with him 
two or three hundred men of his division, and Major 
Goggin, of Kershaw’s staff, about the same number of 
Conner’s brigade, and “these men, aided by several 
pieces of artillery, held the enemy’s whole force on our 
left in check for one hour and a half, until Ramseur was 
shot down mortally wounded, and their artillery ammu¬ 
nition was exhausted.’’ These words are quoted from 
General Early, who also wrote: “Major-General Ram¬ 
seur fell into the hands of the enemy mortally wounded, 
and in him not only my command, but the country 
suffered a heavy loss. He was a most gallant and ener¬ 
getic officer whom no disaster appalled, but his courage 
and energy seemed to gain new strength in the midst of 
confusion and disorder. He fell at his post fighting like 
a lion at bay, and his native State has reason to be proud 
of his memory.’’ He died on the day following the bat¬ 
tle, with these last words: “Bear this message to my 
precious wife—I die a Christian and hope to meet her in 
heaven.’’ He had been married in October, of the pre¬ 
vious year, to Ellen E. Richmond, of Milton, and on the 
day before the fatal battle had been informed of the birth 
of a daughter. 

Brigadier-General Matthew Whittaker Ransom was 
born in Warren county, N. C., in 1826. His father was 


344 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Robert Ransom, who was descended from a colonial 
Virginia family of Gloucester county. His mother was 
Priscilla West Coffield Whittaker, whose lineage is traced 
to Alexander Whittaker, the English clergyman who 
baptized Pocahontas. He was graduated at Chapel Hill, 
the State university, in 1847, and was soon afterward 
admitted to the practice of law. The remarkable ability 
which he at once displayed led to his election five years 
later as attorney-general of the State. This office he 
resigned in 1855 to return to general practice. Three 
years later he was called upon to represent his district 
in the legislature, and was re-elected twice, serving 
until 1861. In the latter year he was sent by North 
Carolina as a peace commissioner to the provisional con¬ 
gress at Montgomery. At the organization of the First 
regiment of infantry, at Warrenton, June 3, 1861, he 
was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Subsequently he 
was appointed colonel of the Thirty-fifth regiment, of 
Robert Ransom’s brigade. With this command he partici¬ 
pated in the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, and 
was particularly distinguished in the repulse of a night 
attack June 25th, and in the attack on Malvern hill, 
where his regiment suffered severely and he was twice 
wounded, so that he had to *be carried from the field. 
He was again on duty with his regiment in the Maryland 
campaign, and during part of the battle of Sharpsburg 
had temporary command of the brigade, repelling a Fed¬ 
eral assault, and pursuing the enemy and inflicting such 
punishment that no further attack was made in that quar¬ 
ter during the day. After the battle of Fredericksburg 
he served at Wilmington and other points in North Caro¬ 
lina, and being promoted brigadier-general took com¬ 
mand of the brigade formerly led by Robert Ransom. 
He held the Suffolk line during the Gettysburg campaign, 
and in the latter part of July defeated the enemy’s ad' 
vance toward Weldon. He continued to serve in North 
Carolina during 1863, participated in the capture of Ply- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


345 


mouth, defeated the enemy at Suffolk March 9, 1864, 
and then fought with Beauregard before Petersburg, 
with Longstreet on the north side of the James, and in 
Bushrod Johnson’s division on the Crater line. During 
the latter part of 1864 he was in command of this divi¬ 
sion, comprising his own brigade and those of Wise, Gra- 
cie and Wallace. In the famous assault upon the Fed¬ 
eral works on Hare’s hill, March 25, 1865, he command¬ 
ed two brigades, whose service was particularly compli¬ 
mented by General Lee. He was again in battle at Five 
Forks, and finally surrendered with Lee at Appomattox. 
After the close of hostilities he resumed the practice of 
law and engaged in planting, until 1872, when he was 
elected to the United States Senate, where he served by 
re-election a continuous period of twenty-four years. As 
a member of this exalted body he rendered efficient serv¬ 
ice to his State, and while retaining the affections of the 
people of whom he was part, gained the respect and 
admiration of the representatives of the whole nation. 
As a forcible and elegant public speaker and a wise coun¬ 
cilor he held a high position during his public career in 
the Democratic party. In the second administration of 
President Cleveland he served as minister to Mexico, 
succeeding ex-Governor Gray, of Indiana. 

Major-General Robert Ransom was born at Bridle 
Creek, Warren county, N. C., February 12, 1828, the 
second son of Robert Ransom, his elder brother being 
the soldier and statesman, Matthew W. Ransom. He 
was graduated at the United States military academy in 
1850, and promoted to a lieutenancy in the dragoons. 
As a cadet and officer he was distinguished for splen¬ 
did horsemanship and the practical qualities of a 
soldier. He was on duty at the Carlisle cavalry school 
until March, 1851, when he led a detachment of troops 
to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., thence accompanying the 
command of Col. E. V. Sumner to New Mexico. Dur- 

Nc 44 


346 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ing the succeeding four years he was engaged in scouting 
through that territory, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and 
Utah, until in the fall of 1854 he was detailed as instruct¬ 
or of cavalry at West Point, under Col. R. E. Lee, super¬ 
intendent. With promotion to first lieutenant he joined 
the new First cavalry in 1855, and served nearly two 
years as adjutant of the regiment; at Fort Leavenworth, 
in the Sioux expedition, and in the quelling of the Kan¬ 
sas disturbances. In 1859 he took part in the march to 
the Arkansas river, and remained on the frontier, with 
promotion to captain January 31, 1861. On May 24th, 
when informed of the secession of his State, he resigned, 
and on July 4th reached his native State. He was com¬ 
missioned captain of cavalry, C. S. A., and the Ninth of 
the first ten regiments of State troops was organized 
under his direction near Ridgeway. Of this regiment, 
thereafter known as the First North Carolina cavalry, 
he was the first colonel. He started with his regiment 
to Virginia, October 13, 1861, and in November com¬ 
manded at Vienna, in the first encounter of the cavalry of 
the opposing armies. On March 6, 1862, he was pro¬ 
moted brigadier-general for the express purpose of organ¬ 
izing the cavalry of Generals Johnston and Beauregard 
in the West and Southwest, but New Bern having fallen, 
his destination was changed, and he was engaged for a 
time in holding in check the enemy in eastern North 
Carolina. In June, 1862, in command of a brigade of six 
North Carolina regiments, he was temporarily attached 
to Huger’s division. His troops, though mainly new to 
battle, were distinguished both at the opening and the 
close of the bloody Seven Days’ struggle. In the Mary¬ 
land campaign he commanded a brigade composed of the 
Twenty-fourth,Twenty-fifth, Thirty-fifth and Forty-ninth 
regiments, Walker’s division, Longstreet’s corps; partici¬ 
pated in the reduction of Harper’s Ferry, and was distin¬ 
guished at Sharpsburg. In his report of the latter battle 
General Walker wrote: “To Brigadier-General Ran- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


347 


som's coolness, judgment and skill we are in a great 
degree indebted for the successful maintenance of our 
position on the left, which, to have been permanently 
gained by the enemy, would in all probability have 
been to us the loss of the battle.” At the battle 
of Fredericksburg he was in command of the divi¬ 
sion, and had immediate charge of the position on 
Marye’s and Willis’ hills, where the severest fighting of 
the battle occurred. He subsequently served with his 
division in North Carolina in defense of the Weldon rail¬ 
road, until May, 1863, when he was promoted major-gen¬ 
eral and given charge of the district including the Appo¬ 
mattox and Blackwater. He was in command at Rich¬ 
mond until July of that year, when he was for some time 
disabled by illness. In October, 1863, he took command 
in east Tennessee and drove the Federals as far south as 
Knoxville, and remained in that department in command 
of cavalry under Longstreet and Buckner, until April, 
1864, when he was ordered to Richmond, with the inten¬ 
tion of assigning him to command of the Trans-Missis¬ 
sippi department. But the condition at the Confederate 
capital compelled his retention there, where he met 
Butler’s operations at Bermuda Hundred and Sheridan’s 
and Kautz’s raids with the handful of men at his disposal. 
He commanded Beauregard’s left wing at the battle of 
Drewry’s Bluff, May 16th, and gallantly stormed the 
enemy’s breastworks, playing a prominent part in the 
‘‘corking up” of Butler’s army. In June he took com¬ 
mand of Early’s cavalry in the movement against Hunter 
and the expedition through Maryland against Washington. 
In August he was relieved on account of illness, in Sep¬ 
tember served as president of a court of inquiry connected 
with Morgan’s operations in Kentucky, in November 
was assigned to command at Charleston, but was soon 
compelled by illness to abandon that post. He surren¬ 
dered to General Howard at Warren ton, May 2, 1865. In 
the trying times following the close of hostilities he 


348 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


found employment as express agent and city marshal at 
Wilmington, subsequently engaged in farming until 1878, 
and then accepted a position as civil engineer in charge 
of river and harbor improvements by the national gov¬ 
ernment, making his home at New Bern. General Ran¬ 
som was married in 1856 to Minnie Huntt, of Washing¬ 
ton, who died in 1881, leaving eight children. In 1884 
he married Katherine DeWitt Lumpkin, of Columbus, 
Ga. 

Brigadier-General William Paul Roberts was born in 
Gates county, N. C., July 11, 1841. Before he was twenty 
years old he entered the Confederate service as a non¬ 
commissioned officer in the Nineteenth North Carolina 
regiment, or Second cavalry, Col. S. B. Spuill. He was 
promoted third lieutenant August 30, 1861; first lieu¬ 
tenant September 13, 1862; captain November 19, 1863, 
and though the junior captain, soon attained the rank of 
major. He served with distinction during the operations 
of the regiment in North Carolina, until transferred to 
Virginia in the fall of 1862. He then served on the Rap¬ 
pahannock line, at Fredericksburg, in the Suffolk cam¬ 
paign, and in the famous battle of Brandy Station, where 
the gallant Col. Sol Williams was killed. After partici¬ 
pating in the fighting of the spring of 1864, in the North 
Carolina brigade of W. H. F. Lee’s division, Roberts 
was promoted to colonel of the regiment. At Reams’ 
Station, August 25th, with his regiment dismounted he 
made a gallant charge upon the enen^’s rifle-pits, carry¬ 
ing them handsomely and capturing a number of prison¬ 
ers. February 21, 1865, he was promoted brigadier-gen¬ 
eral, and General Lee’s gauntlets were presented him by 
the great chieftain as a mark of personal recognition of 
the young hero’s distinguished gallantry. With his 
command, mainly composed of North Carolinians, he 
fought with valor at Five Forks, and during the retreat 
to Appomattox. After the close of hostilities he address- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


349 


ed himself with the same activity and courage to the re¬ 
establishment of the State and the restoration of its 
prosperity. In 1875 he represented Gates county in the 
convention, and in 1876-77 served in the legislature. In 
1880 and 1884 he was elected auditor of State, an office 
the duties of which he discharged with notable ability 
for a period of eight years. 

Brigadier-General Alfred Moore Scales was born No¬ 
vember 26, 1827, in Rockingham county, son of Dr. Rob¬ 
ert H. Scales. He was educated at the Caldwell institute 
and Chapel Hill, and after teaching for a time, studied 
law with Judge Settle and later with Judge Battle. He 
was elected county solicitor in 1852, and was a member 
of the house of commons in 1852-53. In 1854 he made a 
creditable race as the Democratic candidate for Congress 
in a Whig district. Again being elected to the legislature, 
he served as chairman of the finance committee. In 
1857 he was elected to Congress over his former oppo¬ 
nent, but was defeated for re-election. From 1858 until 
the spring of 1861 he held the office of clerk and master 
of the court of equity of Rockingham county. In i860 
he was an elector on the Breckinridge ticket, and in 1861 
was a candidate for the convention, favoring the calling 
of the same, though he did not propose immediate seces¬ 
sion. Soon after the call for troops from Washington he 
volunteered as a private in the North Carolina service, 
but was at once elected captain of his company, H of 
the Thirteenth, and succeeded General Pender as colonel 
in the following October. Fie was engaged in the skir¬ 
mishes at Yorktown, the battle of Williamsburg and the 
Seven Days’ campaign about Richmond, Fredericksburg 
and Chancellorsville. In the latter engagement he con¬ 
tinued on the field, though shot through the thigh, until 
loss of blood forced him to a halt. It was to his regi¬ 
ment that General Pender said: “I have nothing to say 
to you but to hold you all up as models in duty, courage 


350 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and daring.” In his official report Pender referred to 
Colonel Scales as “a man as gallant as is to be found in 
the service.” While at home, recovering from his 
wound, he was promoted to brigadier-general June 13, 
1863, and on his return was assigned to the command 
of Pender’s old brigade. In the first day’s fight at Get¬ 
tysburg he fought with great gallantry, and fell severely 
wounded by a fragment of shell on Seminary ridge, 
where every field officer of his brigade was killed or 
wounded save one, and his brigade, already sadly reduced 
by its terrible sacrifices at Chancellorsville, lost in all 
nearly 550 men. With General Pender at his side he 
was carried back to Virginia in an ambulance, and being 
left at Winchester, recovered. He took part in the cam¬ 
paigns of the army of Northern Virginia during 1864, in 
command of his brigade, and was faithful to the end, 
though at home on sick furlough at the time of the sur¬ 
render. He subsequently resumed the practice of law, 
a profession in which he gained very high distinction. 
In 1874 he was elected to the Forty-fourth Congress, and 
his career in this capacity met with such general approval 
that he was re-elected to the four succeeding Con¬ 
gresses. He was then in 1884, chosen governor of North 
Carolina by a majority of over twenty thousand 
votes. Upon the expiration of his term as governor he 
retired permanently from political life, repeatedly refus¬ 
ing to be returned to Congress. In 1888 he was elected 
president of the Piedmont bank at Greensboro, and con¬ 
tinued as its president until he died, in February, 1892. 
At the time of his death at Greensboro all business houses 
closed and the city turned out en masse to attend his 
funeral. He was greatly beloved and respected by all 
who knew him, and his home life was particularly pleas¬ 
ant and charming. He was survived by his wife, Kate 
Henderson Scales, and his daughter, Mrs. John N. 
Wynne, who now reside at Danville, Va. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


351 


Brigadier-General Robert B. Vance was born in Bun- 
combe county, N. C., April 28, 1828, and received the 
old-field school education of his day. He was elected 
clerk of the court of pleas and quarter sessions for his 
native county in 1848, and after a term of eight years, 
declined re-election and devoted himself to mercantile 
pursuits until the outbreak of war. He then organized 
a company, the Buncombe Life Guards, of which he was 
elected captain. This company was assigned to the 
Twenty-ninth regiment of infantry, and he was unani¬ 
mously elected as its first colonel. The command left 
Camp Vance, in Buncombe county, October 28, 1861, for 
Raleigh, and in the latter part of November was sent to 
the field in east Tennessee. There the regiment served 
mainly in garrison duty on the railroad until February, 
1862, when it was concentrated at Cumberland gap, in 
the defense of which it took part until the evacuation in 
June. Under the command of General Stevenson, Colonel 
Vance and his regiment took part in the assault and 
defeat of the enemy at Tazewell in August, after which 
Colonel Vance, in command of his own and other regi¬ 
ments, held a position at Baptist gap until the Federals 
retreated, when the army under Kirby Smith advanced 
into Kentucky as far as Frankfort, thence returning 
through Cumberland gap in October, marching about 
500 miles in forty days. At the battle of Murfreesboro, 
December 31st, after the death of the brigade commander 
Gen. J. E. Rains, who was shot through the heart as the 
brigade charged the enemy, Colonel Vance took com¬ 
mand of the brigade, and as Major-General McCown 
reported, “bore himself gallantly.” After Bragg had 
fallen back to Shelbyville, Colonel Vance was taken with 
typhoid fever, and while in this condition his regiment 
was ordered to Jackson, Miss., and he never afterward 
was in command of it. While sick he received his com¬ 
mission as brigadier-general, issued in June, 1863. On 
returning to duty he was assigned to service in western 


352 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


North Carolina, in which region he was captured Jan¬ 
uary 14, 1864, at Cosby creek, which ended his military 
career. He experienced the life of the prison camps at 
Nashville, Louisville, Camp Chase and Fort Delaware. 
While at the latter place he was appointed to act with 
General Beale in buying clothing for Confederate prison¬ 
ers of war, which occupied his attention until he was 
paroled March 14, 1865. Since the return of peace he 
has had a conspicuous career in the Congress of the 
United States, as representative of the Eighth district, 
elected first in 1872, and continuously thereafter up to 
and including 1882. He declined renomination in 1884, 
but took an active part in the Democratic campaign of 
that year, and in the following spring was appointed 
assistant commissioner of patents by President Cleve¬ 
land. He also attained prominence in the masonic order 
as grand-master for his State, in the Methodist church 
as delegate to general conferences and the ecumenical 
conference in London in 1881, and as a lecturer and 
author. 

Major-General William Henry Chase Whiting was born 
at Biloxi, Miss., March 22, 1824, of Northern parentage. 
His father, Levi Whiting, a native of Massachusetts, was 
for forty years an officer of the United States army, from 
1812 to 1853, and at his death was lieutenant-colonel of 
the First artillery. He was educated at the Boston high 
school, at Georgetown college, D. C., and at the United 
States military institute, being graduated with promo¬ 
tion to second lieutenant of engineers at the head of 
the famous class of 1845. He served as an officer of 
the engineer corps on the gulf coast until 1853, on the 
Pacific coast until 1856, and then in Florida, Georgia and 
North Carolina, being engaged in the improvements of 
Savannah river when he resigned in February, 1861, 
having at that time attained the rank of captain. Offer¬ 
ing his services to Georgia, he was appointed major of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


353 


engineers, and the same rank was given him in the Con¬ 
federate States army. He was sent to inspect the works 
at Charleston harbor, and under Beauregard rendered 
valuable service, not only as engineer in fortifying Mor¬ 
ris island, but as acting assistant adjutant and inspector 
general in stationing the troops on that island. Soon 
afterward he was appointed inspector-general in charge 
of the defenses of North Carolina, and after the coast 
defenses were safely in the hands of the State, he joined 
Gen. J. E. Johnston at Harper’s Ferry as chief of staff. 
Fie was in charge of the blowing up of the arsenal at 
Harper’s Ferry, which Johnston pronounced a masterly 
piece of work, and made the arrangements for moving 
the army to reinforce Beauregard at Manassas Junction, 
His service at the glorious victory of July 21st was grate¬ 
fully mentioned in the official report of General Johnston, 
and President Davis promoted him on the field to the 
rank of brigadier-general of volunteers. Fie was assigned 
to the command of the brigade of the lamented General 
Bee, his classmate at West Point, with which and Hood’s 
brigade he handsomely dislodged Franklin’s Federal divi¬ 
sion during the retreat from Yorktown. At Seven Pines 
he was in command of G. W. Smith’s division, and by 
vigorous fighting prevented the junction of Sumner with 
Keyes. It is related by Major Fairly of his staff that 
Whiting suggested to General Lee the stratagem of rein¬ 
forcing Jackson in the valley, to keep back reinforce¬ 
ments for McClellan while Jackson should move rapidly 
and strike the Federal flank, and that Whiting volun¬ 
teered to take his brigade and Hood’s and move to Staun¬ 
ton. Thence he returned at the head of Jackson’s corps, 
and in the battle of Gaines’ Mill skillfully handled the 
two brigades under E. M. Law and Hood, driving the 
enemy from their fortified line, winning the battle. In 
November, 1862, he was assigned to the district of Cape 

Kc & 


354 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Fear, N. C., where it was his duty, during the remainder 
of the war, to keep open the port of Wilmington, of vital 
importance to the Confederate cause. Aided by Col. Wil¬ 
liam Lamb he provided batteries for defense with consum¬ 
mate skill, and in letter after letter implored troops 
sufficient to repel the attack which must soon be expected. 
He was promoted major-general, tardily, in February, 1863. 
A year later J. E. Johnston wrote him that he made a vain 
effort to have him commissioned lieutenant-general and 
assigned as second in command to himself. “The reason 
for putting aside the recommendation,” Johnston said, 
“was an odd one to me. It was that you were too val¬ 
uable in your present place. ’ ’ But it is a remarkable fact 
that while Whiting was esteemed too valuable at Wilming¬ 
ton for promotion, as soon as the port was threatened by 
the vast Federal armada Bragg was given command over 
him, and the gallant officer, without orders, went into the 
fort, and refusing to relieve Lamb of command, assumed 
the duty of counseling him and fighting as a volunteer. 
The garrison, who almost worshiped him, easily repulsed 
the first attack of the enemy. Again at the opening of the 
second attack he came to the fort, and said to Lamb: “I 
have come to share your fate, my boy. You are to be 
sacrificed.” After two days and nights of a terrific bom¬ 
bardment, by the side of which all previous artillery fight¬ 
ing in the world’s history was child’s play, Whiting and 
Lamb could still rally a little band which repelled the 
attack of the United States naval troops. Then calling his 
men to meet another column, Whiting joined in a hand- 
to-hand fight with the enemy, and fell with two wounds 
in the act of tearing down a Federal flag. The garrison 
did not surrender, but were forced from the fort and 
finally captured on the shore. General Whiting was car-' 
ried as a prisoner of war to Governor’s island, N. Y 
where he died March 10, 1865. 


ADDITIONAL 

BIOGRAPHICAL 

SKETCHES 



Nc 46 


355 


ADDITIONAL SKETCHES ILLUSTRATING THE SERVICES 
OF OFFICERS AND PRIVATES AND PATRIOTIC CITI¬ 
ZENS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

John O. Alexander, one of the most prosperous farmers 
of Mecklenburg county, of which he is a native, was born 
February 27, 1832, the son of Almerean and Nancy 
(Ormond) Alexander. When he was four years old his 
father died, and he and his only brother, Samuel D., 
were called upon early in life to devote themselves 
exclusively to the work of providing for their mother and 
five sisters, a work of love which they heartily performed. 
In 1858 he married Jane E., daughter of William Lee, 
by whom he has now four children living. His first en¬ 
listment in the Confederate service was in the fall of 
1861, as a private in the company of Capt. Jack Harrison, 
which he accompanied to New Bern, participating in the 
fight there as color-bearer. Going thence to High Point 
he re-enlisted in Company I, of the Thirty-seventh regi¬ 
ment, Col. L. O’B. Branch, afterward Lane’s brigade, 
with which he was subsequently identified in all of its 
campaigns. From the spring of 1862 he served as quar¬ 
termaster-sergeant of the regiment, and during the last 
two years of the war also performed the duties of forage- 
master of Lane’s brigade. His service, faithfully and 
intelligently performed, with hardly a day’s intermission 
throughout three years, contributed in no slight degree 
to the efficiency and good record of his regiment and bri¬ 
gade. Since then he has given his attention exclusively 
to farming, and is well known throughout his county for 
his success in this industry. He is a member of Mecklen¬ 
burg camp, chairman of the county road commission, 
and in various channels active and enterprising as a citizen. 

Richard B. Alexander, an enterprising and philan¬ 
thropic citizen of Charlotte, was born in that city April 
24, 1840, one of four brothers who served in the war 
of the Confederacy. Their parents were Frank Alex¬ 
ander, a native of Mecklenburg county and a soldier of 
the war of 1812, and Adeline, daughter of John Gilmer, 


356 



R. B. ALEXANDER 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


357 


of the same county. The oldest brother, John D., served 
as a private in the western army under Gen. J. E. John¬ 
ston, was wounded near Atlanta in 1864, and is now 
farming in Jasper county, Miss. The other three were 
members of the Bethel or Eleventh regiment, North 
Carolina troops—James F., who died in 1895, a lieuten¬ 
ant in Company E; Charles W., now a resident of Bir¬ 
mingham, Ala., a lieutenant of Company A, and later, on 
account of disability, an enrolling officer. Richard B. 
enlisted in March, 1862, in Company A, Eleventh regi¬ 
ment, as a sergeant, and was promoted later to orderly- 
sergeant and finally to second lieutenant. He took part 
in the battles of White Hall, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, 
the Wilderness, Spottsyl vania, the rest of the campaign to 
the James, and numerous engagements about Petersburg 
until, with his whole command, he was captured on the 
Petersburg lines, April 2, 1865. He was subsequently 
held as a prisoner of war at Johnson’s island until June 
15, 1865. He was wounded seriously at the battle of 
Gettysburg, and in consequence disabled for four months. 
After the return of peace he promptly accepted the situ¬ 
ation, became as earnest a supporter of the Union as he 
had been of the Confederacy, and set about the work of 
providing for his own welfare and that of his fellowmen. 
After farming six years in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg 
counties he made his home at Charlotte and began a suc¬ 
cessful career as a merchant. In 1895, impressed by the 
wants of the homeless and friendless children of the city, 
he built and put in operation the Alexander rescue home, 
and in 1896 founded the Grove ton school for poor chil¬ 
dren, which he supports unaided. Both these institutions 
are prospering and doing a wonderful amount of good in 
the community. On September 19, 1861, Mr. Alexander 
was married to Amanda, daughter of Albert Wilson, of 
Mecklenburg, who died in 1865, leaving one child, now 
Mrs. Banna Sarratt. In 1866 he married Jane Wilson, 
sister of his first wife. 

George M. Allen, of Raleigh, is one of three Wake 
county brothers who were members of Manly’s battery. 
William B. served as commissary-sergeant of the com¬ 
mand, and Sidney F. as a private, both throughout the 
entire war. George M. was born March 9, 1835, and 
entered the Confederate service as a private in the bat- 


358 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


tery then known as Ramseur’s, from the fact that Gen. 
S. D. Ramseur began his illustrious Confederate career 
as its commander, and later as Manly’s battery, or Com¬ 
pany A, First regiment light artillery. He served with 
this command on the Virginia peninsula in the spring 
of 1861, being under fire for several weeks on the York- 
town line, then at Williamsburg and Seven Pines, and 
during the Seven Days’ battles on the York River railroad 
at the right of the Confederate line. He was again in 
battle at Sharpsburg, and fought during the three days’ 
battle at Gettysburg, where the battery opened the fight 
on the Confederate right; at Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania; and during the long 
siege of Petersburg and the retreat to Appomattox was 
in almost constant service. At Appomattox the company 
was disbanded and the men scattered to their homes. 
He returned to Wake county, and after farming for two 
years found employment for several years as section- 
master on the Raleigh & Gaston railroad. In 1872 he 
went into business at Forestville, and in 1875 removed to 
Raleigh, where he is now a respected citizen. After 
two years’ service in a subordinate capacity he embarked 
in the foundry and machine manufacturing industry, in 
which he has been notably successful. By his marriage 
in 1878 to Mrs. Helen Harris (nee Pair) he has one 
daughter, Helen P. 

John Nathaniel Anderson, of Rural Hall, Forsyth 
county, a veteran of the Thirty-third regiment, North 
Carolina troops, was in Confederate service throughout 
the war, but though in several great battles was so unfor¬ 
tunate as to be a large part of the time an inmate of 
Northern prison camps. He was born September 16, 
1837, in Forsyth county, and in the spring of 1861 
enlisted in Company I of the Thirty-third regiment, of 
which he was elected second lieutenant, and a year later 
promoted to first lieutenant. His first battle was under 
General Branch at New Bern, in March, 1862, and being 
captured there he was conveyed to Governor’s island, 
N. Y., and thence transferred to Johnson’s island, Lake 
Erie. Finally, being exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss., he 
was able to regain his command in time to participate in 
the battle of Fredericksburg. In his next battle," Chan- 
cellorsville, he was crippled by a wound in the knee, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


859 


and. was sent to Richmond, whence upon recovery he 
started to join his regiment in the Pennsylvania campaign 
and met the army at Hagerstown on the retreat. He 
was in the fight on the Potomac in which General Petti¬ 
grew was killed, and in the following May fought in the 
Wilderness battles until shot through the thigh. Upon re¬ 
covery he took part in the battles before Petersburg and 
was again captured, and taken to Johnson’s island, where 
he was held until after the close of hostilities. Since then 
he has been an influential citizen to his native county, 
serving fourteen years as member of the board of educa¬ 
tion. By his marriage in 1871 to Miss F. J. Kiser he has 
four children living: Marietta, Lelia Roberta, Charles 
Wesley and James Kiser. 

Captain Alexander Boyd Andrews, a gallant Confed¬ 
erate soldier, who in later years has attained great prom¬ 
inence in railroad and industrial affairs, was born near 
Franklinton, N. C., July 23, 1841, the son of William J. 
Andrews, a merchant of Henderson. The mother of the 
latter was a daughter of Col. Jonas Johnston, a revolu¬ 
tionary hero who was wounded at Moore’s creek, and 
died from wounds received at the battle of Stono, in June, 
1779. The wife of William J. Andrews was Virginia, 
daughter of Col. John Hawkins, of Franklin county, and 
granddaughter of Alexander Boyd, of Mecklenburg 
county, Va. The subject of this sketch and his brothers 
and sisters, lost both their parents at an early age and were 
reared by Colonel Hawkins. In 1859 he was given the 
position of general superintendent, purchasing agent and 
paymaster, by his kinsman, Gen. Philip B. Hawkins, 
who had a large railroad contract in South Carolina, but 
he forsook these duties to enlist in the spring of 1861 as 
a private in the First North Carolina cavalry regiment, 
commanded by Col. Robert Ransom, afterward major- 
general. He was soon promoted lieutenant and rose 
rapidly to the rank of captain of Company B, during his 
first year’s service. He accompanied this splendid regi¬ 
men to Virginia, and fought under Stuart and Hampton 
in many brilliant encounters with the enemy until on 
September 22, 1863, in a bloody fight at Jack’s shop, near 
Gordonsville, a Federal bullet tore its way through his 
left lung and injured the spine in its exit from his body. 
The wound was considered mortal, and the adjutant of 


360 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the regiment, writing to the Fayetteville Observer soon 
afterward, apparently paid a tribute to the dead, in these 
words: “While cheering on his men the gallant Captain 
Andrews fell, shot through the lungs. No braver man 
or better man has fallen during the war. He was uni¬ 
versally beloved.” Captain Andrews was removed to 
the hospital at Gordonsville where, by indomitable cour¬ 
age, he managed to improve the slight chance of recovery 
which remained to him. But the weary months of suffer¬ 
ing and convalescence which followed did not permit him 
to return to the field. Twice he made the attempt to 
rejoin his comrades during the terrible struggle of 1864, 
but his strength was unequal to the task. Yet, after 
Lee’s surrender, he made his way to Johnston’s army, 
and was paroled with the veterans of that command in 
April, 1865. He then at once gave his attention to the 
work of material reconstruction and development. He 
established a ferry at Gaston to supply the place of the 
bridge destroyed by war, and in 1867 became superin¬ 
tendent of the Raleigh & Gaston railroad, under Dr. 
W. J. Hawkins, president. Here he had duties of 
construction as well as maintenance, and assisted in the 
building of many miles of the Raleigh & Augusta air 
line. In 1875 he became superintendent of the North 
Carolina railroad, then leased by the Richmond & Dan¬ 
ville company, and in addition to his duties as superin¬ 
tendent acted as assistant to the president of the Rich¬ 
mond & Danville system, and in 1886 became third vice- 
president of the company. He had an important part in 
the development of this great system, and when the lines 
were acquired by the Southern railroad company in 1894, 
he was elected second vice-president of the new company. 
About a year later he became first vice-president of this 
famous railroad system, one of the greatest in the world. 
Largely through his energy and administrative power 
the Western North Carolina railroad was pushed to com¬ 
pletion after it had practically been abandoned about 1880. 
He became president of this road and united it with the 
system now known as the Southern. He has also served 
as president of several of the minor lines included in the 
system, and in addition to these multifarious duties has 
been active in the promotion of industrial enterprises, 
has served as a director of various financial institutions, 
acted as a vice-president of the World’s Columbian 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


361 


exposition, and has not neglected his duties as a citizen 
of Raleigh, where he has served many years as a member 
of the board of aldermen. Throughout the two admin¬ 
istrations of Governor Jarvis he served on the governor’s 
staff with the rank of colonel. In September, 1869, Col¬ 
onel Andrews was married to Julia, daughter of Col. 
William Johnston, of Charlotte, and they have five 
children. 

Captain William M. Andrews, of Burlington, entered 
the Confederate service as a private in Company E, Capt. 
Thomas Ruffin, Jr., of the Thirteenth regiment, North 
Carolina troops, of the famous brigade commanded suc¬ 
cessively by Garland, Pender and Scales. The regi¬ 
ment, first known as the Third volunteers, served in all 
the famous campaigns of the army of Northern Virginia, 
and Private Andrews, by his gallant and intelligent per¬ 
formance of duty, won promotion to second lieutenant 
after the battle of Seven Pines, to first lieutenant after the 
Seven Days’ fight, and was acting captain, in which 
rank he served to the close of the war, frequently being 
in command of two or more companies. He was on duty 
near Suffolk in 1861; in the spring of 1862 took part in 
the defense of Yorktown, and during the remainder 
of 1862 fought at Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Cold 
Harbor, Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Sharpsburg and 
Fredericksburg. At Chancellorsville he lost thirty-five 
men of his company in the battle of May 3d, and at Get¬ 
tysburg took a conspicuous part with his regiment in the 
fighting of the first and third days, including the famous 
assault of the North Carolinians on Cemetery hill. On 
the retreat he was in battle at Hagerstown and Falling 
Waters. In 1864 he was a participant in the deadly 
struggles at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, 
Hanover Court House and Cold Harbor, and fought at 
Fort Harrison and on the Petersburg lines during the 
siege. Five Forks, Farmville and Appomattox, of sad 
but proud memory, were his last encounters with the 
enemy of those days, fellow patriots of to-day. Captain 
Andrews was born in Orange county in 1835, son of 
Green Andrews, a farmer. At the outbreak of war he 
was in railroad service as a baggagemaster, and when he 
returned to his home in 1865 he returned to railroad 
employment, serving as clerk at Raleigh four years, then 


362 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


as agent at Graham three years, and seven years as a 
passenger conductor. After four years in the internal 
revenue service he engaged in business as a contractor 
and builder, in which he has met with notable success. 

James T. Anthony, of Charlotte, N. C., a veteran of 
the Fifteenth Virginia infantry, was born in Hanover 
county, Va., May 12, 1843. His father was James 
Anthony, son of a revolutionary soldier of Virginia and 
of Scotch-Irish descent; his mother, Louisa Timberlake, 
of a Virginia family of French origin. He left his farm 
home early in 1861, enlisting May 13th in Company D 
of the Fifteenth Virginia regiment, with which he served 
as a private and non-commissioned officer until the close 
of the war. His first battle was Williamsburg, and in 
rapid succession followed the engagements at Savage 
Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Harper’s 
Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and the Suffolk 
campaign, all under the corps command of Longstreet, 
and at the last in the brigade of General Corse. In the 
fall of 1863 and following winter he took part in the 
East Tennessee campaign, one of the severest of the 
war, in which he fought at Bean’s Station and Bull’s 
Gap, but suffered most from the inclement weather. 
One of his worst experiences was the forced march from 
Bull’s Gap to Bristol, a distance of 90 miles, marching 
barefooted in the snow and wading the ice-cold rivers, 
with the mercury at zero. With Pickett’s command he 
took part in the capture of the blockhouses at New 
Bern, and subsequently fought at Drewry’s bluff against 
Butler. In this battle his regiment was on the extreme 
right, a very exposed position, and lost half its number 
in killed and wounded. It is related by Gen. A. L. 
Phillips, of Virginia, then an officer of Company D, 
Fifteenth regiment, that two days before this battle the 
company was on the picket line, and Private Anthony 
and two comrades, sheltered behind a pine stump, found 
themselves confronted by three Yankees about 75 yards 
distant, behind a rail fence. A miniature battle at 
once ensued, and in the first exchange of volleys two on 
each side were put out of action. Anthony was left 
to fight on his side against the surviving enemy, and 
they exchanged twenty-five rounds with the accuracy of 
sharpshooters before Anthony’s opponent was disabled. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


363 


Later he fought on the Cold Harbor line against Grant 
and participated in the recapture of the Howlett house 
fortifications. There, while at a vidette post he was cap¬ 
tured, September 24, 1864, and imprisoned at Point 
Lookout until April 12, 1865. After the close of hostili¬ 
ties Mr. Anthony resided at Richmond until 1877, then 
making his home permanently at Charlotte, where he is 
a prominent merchant. He is conspicuous in industrial 
circles as former president of the Alpha cotton mills and 
president of the Cotton and Spinners’ association. He is 
a member of Mecklenburg camp, and has been active in 
the organization of State troops. In 1882 he reorgan¬ 
ized the Hornet’s Nest Riflemen, of which he was cap¬ 
tain two years, and was then made colonel of the Fourth 
regiment, a rank he held for ten years. Colonel Anthony 
was married in 1868 to Clara V. Flanhardt, of Rich¬ 
mond, and they have eleven children living. 

Lieutenant Thomas Munroe Argo, a prominent attor¬ 
ney of Raleigh, N. C., is a native of McMinnville, Tenn., 
born in 1844. He was educated at Chapel Hill, and 
immediately upon his graduation by the university, in the 
spring of 1863, enlisted in the First North Carolina bat¬ 
talion of heavy artillery, and was commissioned second 
lieutenant by Governor Vance. During his service he 
engaged in several skirmishes on the coast and took part 
in the heroic defense of Fort Fisher. In the famous fight 
with the Federal fleet in January, 1865, he endured all 
the sufferings of the gallant command of Colonel Lamb. 
The blood was forced from his ears and nose by the ter¬ 
rible concussions of the bombardment, and he was struck 
and slightly wounded by a fragment of shell. With the 
survivors of the fight he was captured, and from then 
until the latter part of March, 1865, was a prisoner of war 
at Governor’s island, N. Y. Though paroled he was 
was not exchanged before the close of hostilities. He 
then entered upon the study of law at Chapel Hill, under 
William A. Battle, and being admitted to the practice in 
1867, embarked in his professional career at Chapel 
Hill. He took an active part in politics in the recon¬ 
struction period, and being elected to the legislature in 
1868 from Orange county, served one term as a member 
of the judiciary committee. In 1872 he removed to Ral¬ 
eigh, where he has subsequently l'esided. From 1886 to 


364 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1891 he ably discharged the duties of solicitor of the met¬ 
ropolitan district, comprising the counties of Wake, 
Wayne, Johnson and Harnett. 

Colonel John Ashford, of the Thirty-eighth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, was born in North Carolina, Sep¬ 
tember 6, 1837. He entered the Confederate service as 
captain of the “Sampson Plowboys,’’ a volunteer com¬ 
pany he had organized in Sampson county, which became 
Company D of the Thirty-eighth regiment, organized at 
Camp Mangum, January 17, 1862, under Col. William J. 
Hoke. The regiment served in North Carolina until 
April, when it was ordered into Virginia and was first in 
line of battle near Fredericksburg. In Pender’s brigade 
it participated in the Seven Days’ battles before Rich¬ 
mond. At Cedar mountain Captain Ashford was in com¬ 
mand of his regiment, and was commended by General 
Pender. On August 21st he was promoted major. The 
battle of Second Manassas followed, and in his report 
General Pender wrote that “Capt. John Ashford, com¬ 
manding the Thirty-eighth, behaved with great coolness 
and bravery. I had the misfortune to lose him on 
account of a wound in the leg. ’ ’ After the battle of 
Fredericksburg he was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and 
in this rank at Chancellorsville he again won the especial 
commendation of his general and the admiration of his 
men. He was in command of the regiment while Col¬ 
onel Hoke was in charge of the brigade, and in the ter¬ 
rible slaughter of July 1st at Gettysburg, in which his 
brigade was reduced to a mere squad, he was among the 
wounded. He was again on duty in the great battles of 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, serving as colonel, to 
which rank he was promoted when Colonel Hoke was 
assigned to other duty on account of his wounds, received 
at Gettysburg. He led his gallant regiment to the end, 
participating in the battles at Reams’ Station and the 
Davis house, the fighting on the Petersburg lines, and 
the battles at Sutherland’s farm, April 2d, and Farm- 
ville, April 7, 1865. His later life and his death were thus 
referred to in the message of Gov. A. M. Scales of Jan¬ 
uary, 1889: “Within a few days past, the State has sus¬ 
tained a great loss in the death of a distinguished citizen 
and his two sons, under circumstances of peculiar horror. 
Col. John Ashford, at the call of his State, entered her 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


365 


service, and fought through the late war to Appomattox, 
with a gallantry and daring second to none in that 
struggle. As a citizen he was no less distinguished than 
as a soldier, devoting all the energies of his life to repair¬ 
ing the waste places of the land and restoring the State 
to prosperity and happiness. His death is a calamity to 
the whole State. ’ ’ 

Lieutenant James W. Atkinson, of Fayetteville, was 
born at that city, the son of John W. and Sarah (Gur- 
gains) Atkinson. His father did honor to his native State 
on the battlefields of two wars, serving in the Mexican 
war in the company of Capt. Robert Mitchell, and in the 
Confederate war with the Fifth regiment, State troops, 
from the time of his enlistment in April, 1861, until he 
was killed in 1864 at the battle of Cedar Creek. Lieu¬ 
tenant Atkinson enlisted in 1861 as a private in the com¬ 
pany of Capt. Robert Wooten, which became Company 
G of the Thirty-third regiment, Lane’s brigade, A. P. 
Hill’s division. In March, 1862, he was promoted ser¬ 
geant, and on May 9, 1864, was appointed color-bearer of 
his regiment. At the close of the service he held the 
rank of first lieutenant. He participated in many impor¬ 
tant battles, beginning with that at New Bern, March 
14, 1862, and including the Seven Days’ campaign before 
Richmond, Cedar Run, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, 
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Hanover 
Court House, Cold Harbor and the battles about Peters¬ 
burg. He was slightly wounded at Cold Harbor, 1862, 
was shot through both hands at Sharpsburg on May 3, 
1863, was shot through the hip at Chancellorsville, was 
wounded in the leg at James’ farm, near Petersburg, 
and again at Reams’ Station, while carrying the flag of 
his regiment. At Hanover Court House he was captured 
but made his escape the following night. He was sur¬ 
rendered at Appomattox and from there walked to his 
home at Fayetteville. Since 1869 he has been engaged 
in the transportation business and as local manager for 
the Standard oil company. During one term he has served 
as deputy United States marshal. He is esteemed by 
his surviving comrades as a gallant and deserving soldier, 
and by the community generally as a valuable citizen. 
He has seven children living: Mary A., Herbert C., 
John A., Sarah K., Jane Augusta, Mattie and Hollie Lee. 


366 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Colonel John Wilder Atkinson of Wilmington, was 
born in Lunenburg county, Va., in 1830, the son of 
Rev. Thomas Atkinson, whose grandfather, a native of 
England, settled upon the plantation known as Mansfield, 
near Petersburg, in colonial times. Thomas Atkinson 
married in 1828, became rector of Grace church, Balti¬ 
more, and in 1853 was chosen bishop of North Carolina, 
an office which he filled with great distinction and use¬ 
fulness until his death, January 4, 1881. Colonel Atkin¬ 
son was reared and educated at Baltimore, and in 1852 
was married to a daughter of Robert A. Mayo, of Rich¬ 
mond, Va. In 1861 he entered the service of the Con¬ 
federate States as captain of a volunteer company which 
was assigned, as Company A, to the Fifteenth Virginia 
infantry. With this regiment he took part in the action 
at Big Bethel in 1861, and at the battle of Seven Pines 
served on the staff of General McLaws, who took occa¬ 
sion to mention his services in official report. He was 
then promoted major and transferred to the Nineteenth 
Virginia regiment of artillery. To this the Tenth Vir¬ 
ginia artillery was added in 1863, and he was promoted 
to colonel of the consolidated command. He took part 
in the Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond, and sub¬ 
sequently remained on duty in the Richmond defenses, 
where he was toward the last in frequent and arduous 
service combating the Federal raids and defending the 
city against regular siege. He took a prominent part in 
the defeat of the raider Dahlgren, and buried the body of 
that bloodily-disposed warrior. For some time he was 
in command of the defenses about the Confederate cap¬ 
ital. His last battle was at Sailor’s creek, where he was 
captured. Thence he was taken to Johnson’s island, 
but was soon released without taking the oath, through 
the influence of his kinsman, Gen. Winfield Scott. Since 
1866 Colonel Atkinson has made his home at Wilmington, 
where he is a popular citizen and successful business man. 

Major Alphonso Calhoun Avery, justice of the supreme 
court of North Carolina, was born at Morganton, Sep¬ 
tember 11, 1837. He took first honors at Chapel Hill, 
read law with Chief Justice Pearson, and was subse¬ 
quently engaged in the practice of his profession until 
the spring of 1861, when he entered the military service 
of the State as first lieutenant of the second company 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


367 


organized in Burke county, of which his brother, I. E. 
Avery, was captain. This became Company E, Sixth 
North Carolina regiment, with which he went to the 
front in Virginia, and was complimented for gallantry at 
the second battle of Manassas. In 1862 he was promoted 
captain, and later was commissioned major and assistant 
adjutant-general, in which capacity he was assigned to 
the staff of Maj.-Gen. D. H. Hill, whom he accompanied 
during the Chickamauga campaign, and afterward served 
on the staffs of Breckinridge, Hindman and Hood. 
Later in the course of the war he was given command of 
a battalion in North Carolina, but was captured by 
Stoneman’s forces near Salisbury, and was held as a 
prisoner of war until August, 1865. His civil career 
since has been one of the most honorable prominence. 
In 1866 he was elected to the State senate, and two years 
later was returned but not permitted to take his seat, on 
account of the reconstruction provisions. In 1875 he 
represented Burke county in the constitutional conven¬ 
tion, and rendered valuable services; in 1876 was an 
elector on the Democratic presidential ticket, and in 1878 
was elected judge of the superior court for the Eighth 
judicial district. After ten years’ service in this capacity 
he was elevated to the bench of the supreme court of the 
State, where his talent and learning and ability as a jurist 
have been of great service to the commonwealth. He 
was married in 1861 to Susan W., daughter of Rev. R. H. 
Morrison, granddaughter of Gen. Joseph Graham, and 
sister of the widow of Gen. Stonewall Jackson. She died 
in 1886, leaving children of whom three survive, Isaac 
Erwin, Susan W., and Alphonso C. December 31, 1888, 
Judge Avery was married to Sallie Love, daughter of 
Col. W. H. Thomas, hy whom he has a son, Lenoir, and 
two daughters. Judge Avery is a son of Isaac Thomas 
Avery, born in 1785, several times a member of the leg¬ 
islature, and an influential man of his period, whose wife 
was Harriet, daughter of Col. W. W. Erwin. Isaac 
Thomas was the son of Waightstill Avery, born in 1741, 
a descendant of Christopher Avery, who emigrated from 
England to Massachusetts in 1631. He studied law in 
Maryland and came to North Carolina in 1769, served in 
the provincial congresses of 1775 and 1776, was chosen 
attorney-general in 1777, and made his home at Swan 
Ponds, Burke county, in 1781. Three elder brothers of 


368 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


J udge Avery were distinguished in the Confederate serv¬ 
ice. Col. William Waightstill Avery, the eldest, born 
May 25, 1816, was graduated at the university of North 
Carolina, studied law with Judge Gaston, and began a 
political career of considerable prominence as a State 
rights Democrat. He often represented his county in 
the legislature, was chairman of the North Carolina del¬ 
egation in the national conventions of 1856 and i860, and 
was a member of the provisional congress of the Confed¬ 
erate States. He lost his life in 1864 in the Confederate 
service. An incursion into the State had been made 
from Tennessee by a party led by Colonel Kirk, who had 
been successful in capturing a body of recruits in camp, 
and Colonel Avery, hastily gathering a body of militia, 
started in pursuit. In attacking Kirk’s force in a strong 
position in the mountains, he was mortally wounded, and 
died on July 3, 1864. Col. Clark Moulton Avery, next 
in age, born October 3, 1819, was graduated at the State 
university, and was elected to the convention of 1861. 
He went into the military service as captain of the first 
company organized in Burke county in 1861, which was 
assigned to the First regiment of volunteers. He served 
as captain at the battle of Big Bethel, and after the dis¬ 
bandment of his regiment, was commissioned lieutenant- 
colonel of the Thirty-third regiment. When his colonel, 
L. O’B. Branch, was promoted to brigadier-general, 
Avery became colonel in 1862. At New Bern in the 
same year he was captured, with about half his com¬ 
mand, and imprisoned at Johnson’s island, Ohio, until the 
following October. Subsequently he commanded his 
regiment, and took part in the battle of Gettysburg with 
great credit, commanding Lane’s brigade on the third 
day, and again on the retreat, during which his regiment 
was engaged in severe fighting. After surviving the 
terrible carnage of the Wilderness in May, 1864, he was 
fatally wounded on the 12th near Spottsylvania Court 
House, while rallying his men to the defense of the 
Confederate lines, broken by Hancock at the “bloody 
angle. ’’ His left arm and right leg were both shattered. 
He lived through the amputation of the first, but died 
upon the removal of the second, June 19, 1864. By his 
marriage to Elizabeth Tilghman Walton he left four 
children. The third brother was Col. Isaac Erwin 
Avery, of the Sixth regiment, who fell at Gettysburg. 
His career is noted in another connection. 


1 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


369 


Henry T. Bahnson, of Salem, N. C., was born March 
4, 1845. He is the son of Rt. Rev. G. F. Bahnson, 
bishop of Southern province of Moravian church, and was 
educated at Nazareth hall and college, Bethlehem, Pa. 
In December, 1862, he volunteered as a private in Com¬ 
pany G, Second North Carolina battalion of infantry. 
With this command he participated in the battle of Get¬ 
tysburg, where he was captured. He was imprisoned in 
Baltimore city jail and at Point Lookout, Md., until Jan¬ 
uary, 1864, when he was exchanged. He was in all the 
battles in which his battalion was engaged, from the Rap- 
idan to the James. In November, 1864, he was trans¬ 
ferred to Company B, First North Carolina battalion of 
sharpshooters, and served in that command to the sur¬ 
render at Appomattox. During the last fighting he was 
appointed captain of the sharpshooters of General Grimes’ 
brigade, but as this promotion came too late in the war 
for him to receive a commission, he claims that it does 
not invalidate his boast of being the only private who 
survived. After the war closed he studied medicine at 
the university of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 
1867. He then spent two years in study in Germany 
and Holland, after which he returned to his old home in 
Salem, N. C., where he is now engaged in the practice 
of his profession. 

Lieutenant William Hall Bailey, a merchant and 
prominent citizen of Mocksville, N. C., was born at that 
place June 22, 1843, and enlisted in the Confederate 
service March 26, 1862, as a private in Company F of the 
Forty-second regiment, under Col. John E. Brown. He 
served in North Carolina with this command and partici¬ 
pated in various skirmishes, as well as taking part in the 
famous victory at Plymouth under General Hoke, and 
then with Martin’s brigade went to the assistance of the 
army of Northern Virginia in its fight against Grant. 
He took part in the defeat of Butler at Bermuda Hun¬ 
dred, the repulse of Grant at Cold Harbor and the subse¬ 
quent check given the Federal advance against Peters¬ 
burg, and served on the Petersburg lines and on the north 
side of the James until ordered to Wilmington and Fort 
Fisher. After the fall of the latter stronghold, he par¬ 
ticipated in the operations against Sherman and Schofield, 
fighting at Kinston and Bentonville, and finally sharing 


870 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the surrender of the army at Greensboro. His faithful 
and gallant service led to his early promotion to orderly- 
sergeant and later to second lieutenant of his com¬ 
pany. After the close of hostilities he engaged in 
farming until 1870, when he embarked in a mercantile 
career at Mocksville, in which he has met with deserved 
success. 

John B. Baker, of Goldsboro, a veteran well remem¬ 
bered by the comrades of the Twenty-seventh regiment, 
North Carolina troops, is a native of Wayne county, born 
in 1842. He enlisted in the service of the State April 
15, 1861, as a private in the Goldsboro Rifles, which 
became Company A of the Twenty-seventh regiment, 
and was at the front with this command until near the 
close of the war. He participated in the battles of New 
Bern, Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Bris- 
toe Station, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Second Cold 
Harbor, White Oak Swamp and Reams’ Station, and the 
fighting around Petersburg and Richmond during the 
siege until about a month before the surrender of the 
army, when he was captured in a fight on the rail¬ 
road near Petersburg, and sent to Hart’s island, N. Y. 
He remained a prisoner of war until the conclusion 
of hostilities. Since then he has been a citizen of 
Wayne county, except two years which he spent in 
Texas. 

Joseph Henry Baker, M. D., of Tarboro, formerly 
of the medical service of the Confederate States army, 
was born in Edgecombe county in December, 1831. He 
was educated at Louisburg and in the university at 
Chapel Hill, and was graduated in medicine at the uni¬ 
versity of Pennsylvania in 1854. Embarking then in the 
practice of his profession at Tarboro, he was thus 
occupied until, in April, 1861, he enlisted in the State 
military service, and accompanied the Edgecombe Guards 
as surgeon to their first rendezvous. At Raleigh the 
company was assigned to the First regiment of volun¬ 
teers, and he was commissioned first assistant surgeon. 
In this capacity he was at the famous engagement at Big 
Bethel on the Virginia peninsula, and continued with 
the regiment until it was disbanded, when he was 
assigned to the hospital at Tarboro, as surgeon in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


371 


charge. He remained on duty there until the close of 
the war, also being present at the battle of Plymouth. 
Subsequently resuming his practice at Tarboro, he has 
had a very successful career in his profession. He has 
also taken an active part in public affairs, as an alderman 
of his city, as mayor two terms (and is also present 
mayor), as a delegate to the constitutional convention of 
1868, and as a member of the house of commons, in 
which body his father and grandfather also served in 
their day as representative of Edgecombe county. Edge¬ 
combe county has been represented in the State legislature 
by four generations of the Baker family. By his marriage 
in 1855 to Susan A. Foxhall, who died in 1873, he has 
four children: Frank S., Dr. Julian M., Thomas A., and 
Joseph H., Jr. In 1874 he married Ida, daughter of 
ex-Gov. Charles Manly, and they have two children, 
Ida H. and William M. 

Captain Virginius Ballard, a well-known business man 
of Durham, entered the Confederate service early in 1861 
as a private in Hedrick’s artillery. With this command 
he served for a short time at Wilmington, and then, on 
account of his superior business capacity, was trans¬ 
ferred to important duties in the quartermaster’s depart¬ 
ment at Weldon, and a few months later removed to 
Raleigh. During the remainder of the war he discharged 
the duties of paymaster, and by his efficient and faithful 
services won the approbation of his superiors in com¬ 
mand. For a considerable time he held the rank of cap¬ 
tain of the City battalion of Raleigh, and moved with his 
company to Wilmington just before the fall of Fort 
Fisher. Subsequently he was ordered back to Raleigh. 
Captain Ballard is a native of Northampton county and 
son of Jethro Ballard, a leading business man. He was 
educated at St. Timothy’s hall, near Baltimore, and then 
embarked in a commercial career as bookkeeper. After 
his removal to Durham he became chief clerk of W. T. 
Blackwell, and as trustee settled the affairs of Colonel 
Blackwell with entire satisfaction to all concerned. Sub¬ 
sequently he was trustee for the settlement of the estate 
of B. L. Duke. He has also held the position of treasurer 
of Trinity college, is secretary of the board of trustees of 
that institution, and manager of the Durham electric light 
company. 

Nc 47 


372 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Captain Calvin Barnes, of Wilson, N. C., was bom at 
that place in 1839, and educated at Chapel Hill, where 
he was graduated in 1861. In April, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company B of the Second regiment, North Carolina 
State troops, and went into service as second lieutenant 
of his company. He was promoted first lieutenant, and 
then captain of Company A during his first year’s service. 
In the spring of 1862 the regiment went to Goldsboro, 
N. C. They were taken to Wilmington and soon after 
his command became Company H of the Fortieth regi¬ 
ment, heavy artillery, and he continued in the rank of 
captain. He was assigned to duty at Fort Anderson, on 
Cape Fear river, until the summer of 1863, and after¬ 
ward was detailed successively to Fort Johnson, Smith’s 
island and Reeves’ point, where his company built forti¬ 
fications and served on garrison duty. During the at¬ 
tacks on Fort Fisher he was on scouting duty at the point 
opposite, and he was subsequently on scouting duty for 
General Hebert, rendering valuable and dangerous serv¬ 
ice, at times within the enemy’s lines. During the retreat 
to Goldsboro he acted as major of his command, and in 
that rank took part in the battles of Kinston and Benton- 
ville. His four years’ service was ended by the surren¬ 
der of Johnston’s army, at Greensboro, N. C., but he did 
not participate in that event and has never given his 
parole. In 1865, Captain Barnes was married to Mrs. Mary 

A. Sterett (nee Bensell), and engaged in farming in Wil¬ 
son county. Since 1875 he has resided at Wilson, and 
for twenty-five years has held the office of magistrate. 
He has three children living: Kate, James D. and Allie 

B. A brother of the foregoing, John Barnes, enlisted in 
Company H of the Fortieth regiment in 1864, and sur¬ 
rendered at Bentonville. 

Lieutenant Frank W. Barnes, in recent years a pros¬ 
perous citizen of Wilson, N. C., did faithful service 
throughout the war as an officer of the Fourth North 
Carolina cavalry. He was born in that part of Edge¬ 
combe which is now Wilson county, in 1844, and in 
August, 1862, at eighteen years of age, enlisted in the 
Fifty-ninth regiment, or Fourth cavalry, Col. Dennis R. 
Ferrebee, Robertson’s brigade. He first served as 
orderly-sergeant of his company, and eighteen months 
later was promoted second lieutenant of Company H. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 373 

9 

During his career with this gallant command he took 
part in the engagement at Little Washington, N. C., 
and in Virginia next was in the fights at Brandy 
Station, Middleburg, Upperville and Paris. During the 
battle of Gettysburg he was detailed to take charge of 
prisoners. Subsequently he took part in the cavalry 
affairs near Gordonsville, at Stevensburg, and the en¬ 
gagements about Petersburg, with the brigade com¬ 
manded by General Dearing and finally by General Rob¬ 
erts. His health giving way he was in hospital at Wilson 
in April, 1865, and was captured there, but escaped a 
few hours later en route to Goldsboro. Since the close 
of hostilities he has been engaged in the management of 
his agricultural interests in Wilson county, and the con¬ 
duct of the First national bank of Wilson, of which he 
was vice-president in 1874, president from 1875 to 1897, 
and since then again vice-president. In 1869 Mr. Barnes 
was married to Mattie Bynum, and they have three chil¬ 
dren living: Elizabeth, wife of Floyd S. Davis; Alice B., 
wife of Dr. E. K. Wright, and Robert Barnes. 

John Daniel Barries, of Concord, editor of the Concord 
Standard, was born in Cabarrus county, September 16, 
1844, the son of David Barries, and descendant of Ger¬ 
man ancestors who came to North Carolina from Penn¬ 
sylvania about the time of the revolution. He was 
reared upon the farm and educated in the North Caro¬ 
lina college. He enlisted in July, 1862, as a private in 
Captain Cannon’s company, which became Company F, 
Fifty-seventh regiment, State troops, and was promoted 
to corporal in 1863, and to color-bearer of the regiment 
in 1864. He was identified with the record of Law’s 
brigade, Hood’s division, Longstreet’s corps, and was 
distinguished for gallantry. Among the battles in which 
he participated were Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, 
Lynchburg, Monocacy, Strasburg, Cedar Creek and 
Hatcher’s Run. While with the skirmish line driving 
the Federalsfrom Charlestown to Harper’s Ferry, he had 
his most enjoyable experience in warfare. He was 
slightly wounded at Winchester by a shell, receiving a 
bayonet wound at Rappahannock bridge, and a gunshot 
wound in the left shoulder at Petersburg. Three times 
he was a prisoner of war, first for about three weeks at Fort 
Delaware, after his capture at Fredericksburg; next at 


374 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Point Lookout four months after the disaster at Rappa¬ 
hannock bridge, and finally fell into the enemy’s hands 
while lying wounded at Richmond, in April, 1865, and 
was held until July. He is now one of the prominent men 
of his county and quite successful in the field of journalism. 

Colonel John Decatur Barry, Eighteenth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, was born at Wilmington, Jan¬ 
uary 21, 1839. His father was John A. Barry, a native 
of Philadelphia, a graduate of the United States naval 
academy, and in later life a member of the firm of Barry 
& Bryant, at Wilmington; and his mother was Mary, 
daughter of Gen. James Owen. Colonel Barry was grad¬ 
uated with honor at the university of North Carolina in 
1859, and in November, 1861, enlisted as a private in the 
Wilmington Rifle Guards, at Coosawhatchie. At the 
reorganization in May, 1862, at Kinston, he was elected 
captain of Company I, and soon after the battle of Fred¬ 
ericksburg he was promoted to major for gallantry and 
efficiency. Following the next great battle, Chancellors- 
ville, where Colonel Purdy was killed, he was promoted 
to the command of the regiment. As captain he partici¬ 
pated in the engagements at Hanover Court House, the 
Seven Days before Richmond, Cedar Run, Second Ma¬ 
nassas and Fredericksburg; as major in the battle of 
Chancellorsville, and as colonel of the Eighteenth he was 
distinguished at Gettysburg, Mine Run, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania Court House, South Anna River, Fussell’s 
Mill, Gravelly Run, Gaines’ Mill, Jones House, Hatcher’s 
Run, served in the defense of Petersburg, and after its 
evacuation surrendered with Lee at Appomattox. He 
never received a commission as brigadier-general though 
recommended for that richly-deserved promotion. After 
the close of hostilities he was editor and proprietor of 
the Wilmington Dispatch, one of the leading Democratic 
papers at Wilmington, until his death, March 24, 1867. 
In 1863 Colonel Barry was married to Miss Fannie Jones, 
of Hampton, Va., a sister of Pembroke Jones of the "United 
States navy, and Tom Jones of the old United States army. 

Alexander N. Basket, of Henderson, a veteran of the 
engineer corps of the Confederate States army, was born 
in Vance county in 1827, son of Pleasant Basket, a sol¬ 
dier of the war of 1812. He was educated in the schools 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


375 


of the county and was occupied in fanning until the 
beginning of the war of the Confederacy. He enlisted 
in the spring of 1861 and was assigned to duty in the 
quartermaster department, where he served for a period 
of about nine months. In March, 1862, he became a 
member of the Second regiment of engineers, C. S. A. 
His command, under Captain James, was stationed on 
the North Carolina coast and was engaged in the erec¬ 
tion of fortifications at Fort Fisher, Wrightsville and 
various other points. In this duty he continued through¬ 
out the four years’ struggle and finally was surrendered 
at Chesterfield, S. C., then being under the command of 
General Bragg. He attained the rank of sergeant of his 
company and frequently was in charge of important 
duties. At Wilmington he participated in the battle 
which preceded its evacuation. Returning to his home 
after the conclusion of hostilities, he found his property 
in a devastated condition, but he bravely entered upon the 
work of repairing the damages of war, and is now one of 
the most successful farmers of his county. He is a mem¬ 
ber of Wyatt camp, United Confederate Veterans. He was 
married in 1857 to Dinah T. Burroughs, who died in 1894. 
His only living child, Joseph H. Basket, who resides with 
his father, was married in 1889 to Lucy J. Burroughs. 

Lieutenant Dossey Battle, of Rocky Mount, promi¬ 
nently known as an attorney, is a native of Edgecombe 
county, born in 1842. He was educated in the State 
university at Chapel Hill, but abandoned his studies, 
after completing three years of the course, to enlist in the 
Confederate cause. On June 8, 1861, he became a pri¬ 
vate in Company B of the Second North Carolina volun¬ 
teer infantry, afterward numbered as the Twelfth regi¬ 
ment of State troops. While with this command he was 
promoted to sergeant of Company H in January, 1863, 
and sergeant-major of the regiment in March following. 
In August of that year he was transferred to the Seventh 
regiment and commissioned second lieutenant of Com¬ 
pany A. On August 25, 1864, he was promoted first lieu¬ 
tenant of Company I, acted adjutant of one regiment for 
several months, and was then detailed for duty as aide- 
de-camp to Gen. W. G. Lewis, commanding Hoke’s old 
brigade, and in that capacity was paroled at Appomattox. 
During his service he participated in all the battles of 


376 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the army of Northern Virginia except South Mountain 
and Sharpsburg, the list in which he took part including 
the famous names of the Seven Days’, Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spott- 
sylvania Court House. He was slightly wounded at 
Chancellorsville, on the night when Gen. Stonewall 
Jackson received his fatal hurt. Returning to Rocky 
Mount after the close of hostilities, Lieutenant Battle 
began the study of law at Chapel Hill in 1866, and being 
admitted to the superior court bar in January, 1868, em¬ 
barked in the practice. In 1875 he purchased a half 
interest in the Tarboro Southerner, and removing to 
that place, in 1877, edited that journal, also continuing 
his practice until 1894, when he returned to Rocky 
Mount, where he has subsequently resided and devoted 
himself to the legal profession. While connected with 
journalism he was for two years, 1879-80, president of 
the North Carolina press association. He has always 
been active in political affairs as a Democrat. He is the 
author and secured the passage of the law forbidding 
cruelty to animals, not before on the statute books of the 
State. In September, 1898, he was nominated by accla¬ 
mation for the judgeship of the First criminal circuit of 
North Carolina, by the Democratic convention, which 
met in Fayetteville, and was elected in November follow¬ 
ing by a majority of 2,759. He was commissioned by the 
governor and qualified before Associate Justice Clark of 
the supreme court, on November 30th, and at once 
entered upon the duties of the office, holding his first 
court at Halifax on December 5th. The counties com¬ 
posing the First criminal circuit are Mecklenburg, Robe¬ 
son, New Hanover, Cumberland, Craven, Wilson, Nash, 
Edgecombe, Halifax and Warren. 

Lieutenant Richard Henry Battle, of Raleigh, was 
born at Louisburg, N. C., December 3, 1835. He was 
graduated with honors at Chapel Hill in 1854, served there 
four years as an instructor in Greek and mathematics, 
and in 1858 began his career as a lawyer at Wadesboro. 
In the winter of 1861-62 he aided in the organization of a 
company for the Forty-third North Carolina infantry 
regiment, of which he was elected first lieutenant. With 
his regiment, in Daniel’s brigade, he was under fire at 
Malvern hill, and afterward served at Drewry’s bluff 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


377 


until September, 1862, when, being acting quartermaster, 
he resigned on account of failing health, and became 
the private secretary of Gov. Z. B. Vance. He was 
associated with the famous war governor in this capacity 
for two years, and was then appointed auditor of State in 
1864. After the fall of the Confederate government he 
resumed his practice of law, making his home at Raleigh, 
where he has been for many years prominent in his pro¬ 
fession and influential in public affairs. 

J. B. Beal, a prominent manufacturer at Gastonia, was 
bom in Lincoln county, N. C., in 1843, the son of Chris¬ 
topher Beal. At the outbreak of the war of the Confed¬ 
eracy he volunteered for military service, but, having 
recently sustained an injury which crippled one of his 
arms, he was at that time rejected. Still desirous of 
serving for the cause, he succeeded in enlisting early in 
the year 1862 as a private in Company D, Twenty-third 
regiment North Carolina troops. With this command 
he served in Virginia until, on account of his disability 
which still existed, he was detailed for hospital duty, and 
ten months later was honorably discharged. After re¬ 
maining at home a large part of the year he returned to 
the Twenty-third regiment and became a private in Com¬ 
pany B. He participated in the Shenandoah Valley cam¬ 
paign of 1864 and served on the Petersburg lines a short 
time. Then he was detached and assigned to duty in the 
hospital at Danville, where he remained until the close 
of hostilities. After his return to North Carolina he 
embarked in an active and industrious career which has 
brought him notable success and aided materially in the 
development of the manufacturing industries of his State. 
He was the organizer of the Beal manufacturing company, 
and with other enterprising citizens under the firm style of 
Beal & Hinson, is the manager of the Gaston iron works. 
He has other manufacturing interests and is a director of 
the Modena cotton mills. By his marriage in 1869 to Sarah 
Hallman, he has three children, Mary Ida, wife of B. E. 
Long; Dora E., wife of J. S. Barnwell; and John Lawrence. 

Marsden Bellamy, for many years a leading lawyer 
and county attorney at Wilmington, was born at that 
city, January 14, 1843, the son of Dr. John D. Bellamy, 
a prominent physician and citizen. He was educated at 


378 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Chapel Hill, but left the university in July, 1861, to 
enter the service of his State. He was first a member 
of the Scotland Neck cavalry, an independent company 
of cavalry, which had many interesting and dangerous 
experiences and brisk skirmishes with the enemy in 
northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia. After 
about a year of this service he was appointed commissary 
sergeant of the Third North Carolina cavalry, a position 
he held for about six months. He was then appointed 
assistant paymaster in the Confederate States navy, and 
in this capacity served until the close of hostilities, first 
at Richmond, but mainly at Charleston, S. C., which he 
left upon the evacuation. Subsequently he was at Rich¬ 
mond, accompanied the army to Appomattox Court House 
and thence made his way to Danville and on to Haw River, 
N. C., escaping the surrender. Afterward he resumed his 
studies at Chapel Hill, was graduated in law in 1866, and 
was admitted to the practice in January, 1867. 

William James Harriss Bellamy, M. D., a distinguished 
physician of Wilmington, was born at that city in 1844, 
the son of Dr. John D. Bellamy and his wife, Eliza M., 
daughter of Dr. William J. Harriss. He entered the 
university at Chapel Hill in i860, but abandoned his 
studies in the summer of 1861 to enlist as a private in 
Company I of the Eighteenth North Carolina infantry, 
with which he served in Virginia, participating in the 
battles of Hanover Court House, Williamsburg and the 
Seven Days’ campaign, receiving slight wounds in the 
shoulder and knee at Gaines’ Mill. In the latter part of 
August, 1862, his year’s enlistment having expired, he 
enlisted in the Confederate navy, but a day later fur¬ 
nished a substitute and returned to Chapel Hill. After 
studying half a session, he organized a company of 
mounted men for home defense in Brunswick county, and, 
reporting to General Bragg, was assigned to coast duty, 
in which he served with the rank of captain until the 
close of hostilities, surrendering near Raleigh after the 
capitulation of General Johnston. Then, being about 
twenty-one years of age, he entered upon the study of 
medicine at New York city, and was graduated at the 
university of New York in March, 1868, immediately 
after which he began his long and successful professional 
career at Wilmington. While in college he was a mem- 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


379 


ber of the “Aylette” quiz class and received his diploma. 
He was also a member of Professor Loomis’ private class 
in physical diagnosis in Bellevue hospital. He served on 
the board of State medical examiners from 1884 to 1890, 
and has held the offices of president and secretary of the 
county medical society. In 1869 he was married to Mary 
W. Russell, of Wilmington, »and they have six children. 
He has been a member of the North Carolina medical 
society since 1870, and has been, since its organization, 
on the board of regents of the Wilmington city hospital. 
He has been State medical examiner for the Knights of 
Honor for fourteen years and grand dictator of same 
for 1878 and 1879. He is examiner for several large life 
insurance companies. 

Captain David N. Bennett, of Norwood, a survivor of 
the gallant Fourteenth regiment, was born in Chester¬ 
field county, son of Archie E. and Mary Crawford Ben¬ 
nett. His mother’s father, David Crawford, was a soldier 
of the war of 1812, and her grandfather, Jackson, held 
the rank of general in the revolutionary army. With 
such a patriotic strain in his blood it is not a matter of 
surprise that young Bennett was among the early volun¬ 
teers for the war of the Confederacy, though but sixteen 
years of age. His enlistment was in the Anson Guards, 
Capt. C. E. Smith, a volunteer organization which be¬ 
came Company C of the Fourteenth regiment, State 
troops, of which Junius Daniel was the first colonel. 
When the latter was succeeded by W. P. Roberts, 
R. Tyler Bennett became lieutenant-colonel. He enlisted 
as a private and in 1862 was elected sergeant, and in 
1863 appointed ordnance-sergeant, but after serving in 
that capacity five months, he voluntarily resigned, feel¬ 
ing that it was his duty to stay with the men in the ranks 
as a private soldier. He was distinguished for bravery 
on many fields. During the service in southeastern Vir¬ 
ginia, when the regiment was in line of battle under 
heavy fire, and the men were ordered to lie down and 
two volunteers were called for to go forward and draw 
the enemy’s fire, he and William A. Maner were the dar¬ 
ing men who stepped forward. His courage was men¬ 
tioned in orders and he was recommended for promotion. 
At Seven Pines, through the Seven Days’ campaign, the 
Maryland campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, 


380 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Gettysburg, Kelly’s ford, and the campaigns of 1864, he 
shared the glorious record of his regiment. In 1864, 
near Charleston, he was shot through the hip and left on 
the battlefield to die, but fortunately recovered. After 
the close of the war he was elected to the captaincy of 
his old company. Since the close of hostilities he has 
been engaged in mercantile pursuits and in farming. As 
a magistrate he was one of the first Democrats elected to 
office in his county after the war, and in 1883, 1885 and 
1887 he was elected, to the legislature of the State. In 
1894 he was appointed a director of the State peniten¬ 
tiary, an office which he held for three years. Captain 
Bennett was married in 1866 to Agnes C., daughter of 
Benjamin I. Dunlap, and has six children, John T., 
Crawford D., Burt E., Mary E., Irene L., and David N. 
Bennett. 

Captain Frank Bennett, a prosperous farmer of Anson 
county, was born at Paris, N. C., in December, 1839. 
His father, Lemuel Dunn Bennett, was the son of Wil¬ 
liam Bennett, a native of North Carolina; his mother, 
Jane Little, was the daughter of William Little, a native 
of England. Captain Bennett was reared in his native 
county, completed his education at King’s mountain mil¬ 
itary school, Yorkville, S. C., and then engaged in farm¬ 
ing with his home at Paris, but soon answered the call of 
his State in the spring of 1861, for armed forces to 
defend her soil and maintain the Confederate Union. 
He enlisted in May, 1861, as orderly-sergeant of Com¬ 
pany A, Twenty-third North Carolina regiment, and was 
promoted captain of his company May 2, 1862. From 
that date he led his men through all the battles of Early’s 
brigade, participating in the famous campaigns of the 
army of Northern Virginia with credit to himself and 
the State which he and his brave comrades represented. 
He was wounded four times, first in the right knee at the 
battle of Seven Pines. At Hatcher’s run he was yet 
more severely wounded, losing his left arm. The list 
of battles in which he bore an honorable part would be 
a long one; conspicuous in the list are the bloody 
struggles of Chancellorsville (where he was wounded in the 
right leg) and the Wilderness (wounded in the left leg). 
Finally surrendered at Appomattox he came immediately 
to his home, and resumed the occupations of peace, sor- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


381 


rowing for the fall of the government for which he 
fought, but realizing that he could now best serve it by 
making the wilderness which war had left bloom again 
as the rose. His exertions have been amply rewarded in 
the prosperity of his region and his own handsome estate. 
On June 8, 1876, Captain Bennett was married in Baker 
county, Ga., to Elizabeth Curry, a relative of Dr. J. L. M. 
Curry, and their home has been blessed with two chil¬ 
dren, Frank and Lizzie Curry Bennett. 

William H. Bernard, editor of the Wilmington Star, 
conspicuous among the newspapers of North Carolina, 
was born at Petersburg, Va., in January, 1837, and was 
reared and educated at Richmond. He is the son of 
Peter D. Bernard, a native of Goochland county, Va., 
who was a journalist of Richmond; and is the grandson 
of a soldier of the revolution, who died from wounds 
received at Brandywine. In 1855 Mr. Bernard went to 
Texas, but three years later returned to Virginia, and in 
1859 was married to Maggie Stedman of Fayetteville, 
N. C. Then, making his home at Helena, Ark., he re¬ 
mained there until March, 1861, when he came to Fay¬ 
etteville and enlisted in Company H, First regiment 
North Carolina volunteers.. With this regiment, famous 
for fighting the first battle of the war, he was in the 
engagement at Big Bethel, and, after its disbandment, 
he was debarred from further service on account of 
physical disability. He was subsequently connected with 
the Presbyterian and the Daily Telegraph at Fayetteville, 
and in 1865 was one of the founders of the Wilmington 
Dispatch, which he left soon afterward to establish the 
Wilmington Star in 1867. Mr. Bernard is a man of 
influence in public affairs and is a member of the Demo¬ 
cratic State committee. 

William G. Berryhill, of Charlotte, a veteran of the 
Bethel regiment and the Forty-seventh North Carolina, 
was born in Charlotte in 1842. His father, Jefferson J. 
Berryhill, was killed in a railway collision in 1863, while 
returning from a visit to his son, then stationed between 
Petersburg and Richmond. He entered the Confederate 
service as a private in the Charlotte Grays, which became 
Company C of the First regiment, under Col. D. H. 
Hill. He accompanied his regiment to the Virginia pen- 


382 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


insula and shared its six months’ service, including the 
famous first battle of Big Bethel, and, after his return 
home, re-enlisted in Company K of the Forty-fifth regi¬ 
ment, in which he had the rank of sergeant. He was 
with this regiment throughout its service in North Caro¬ 
lina and Virginia, participating in a number of engage¬ 
ments, among them the famous ones of the Wilderness 
and Spottsylvania, with the army under Lee, and Win¬ 
chester and Fisher’s Hill under Early in the Shenandoah 
valley. He was wounded in the right hand at Spottsyl¬ 
vania, and at Fisher’s hill, September 22, 1864, was cap¬ 
tured by the Federals. Until March, 1865, he was a pris¬ 
oner of war at Point Lookout, Md., and after his return 
to Confederate territory he had no opportunity for 
further military service. Since then he has been engaged 
in business at Charlotte, with much success financially, 
and is a highly respected citizen. He is held in warm 
regard by his comrades of the Mecklenburg camp, 
United Confederate Veterans, and has served two terms 
as an alderman of the city. By his marriage in November, 
1867, to Amanda J. Roark, of Shelby, he has one son, 
William Montrose Berryhill. 

Lieutenant James W. Biddle, of New Bern, a veteran 
of the famous First North Carolina cavalry, was born in 
Craven county, N. C., in 1840, and was educated in the 
schools of his county and at Wake Forest college. In 
April, 1861, he enlisted in the cavalry company of Capt. 
Thomas Ruffin, which was mustered in as Company H 
of the First cavalry, under Col. Robert Ransom. Fie 
served in the ranks until the spring of 1864, when he was 
elected second lieutenant, in which rank he commanded 
his company near the close of the war. He was identi¬ 
fied with the history of his regiment throughout its entire 
career, taking part in the first cavalry fight at Dranes- 
ville, the Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond, the 
several engagements at Brandy Station, including the 
famous battle of June 9, 1863, Upperville, the fierce cav¬ 
alry fight on the third day at Gettysburg, the cavalry 
actions during the bloody struggle in the Wilderness and 
about Spottsylvania, the various battles about Petersburg 
and during the retreat to Appomattox, and many other 
engagements in which his regiment was conspicuous. 
Escaping with the cavalry from the field of Appomattox 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


383 


lie was paroled in May at Louisburg, N. C. Subse¬ 
quently, with the exception of two years in Georgia, he 
was engaged in farming in Craven county until 1889, 
when he was appointed clerk in the sheriff’s office at 
New Bern. From 1890 until December, 1896, he held the 
office of register of deeds of the county, and since then 
has been teller of the Farmers and Merchants’ bank. His 
brother, Samuel S. Biddlo, inspired by the same patriotic 
devotion, served as captain in the Sixty-first North Caro¬ 
lina infantry through the war, and died in 1868. 

William DeWitt Biggers, of Lexington, N. C., was born 
in Rowan county, November 20, 1842, and entered the 
Confederate service early in 1861 as a private in Company 
B of the Fourth regiment, with which Gen. George B. 
Anderson went out as colonel in July. The regiment 
reported to General Beauregard at Manassas Junction, 
Va., after the first battle there, and in the spring of 1862 
served in the defense of Yorktown, after the evacuation 
of that point fighting against the Federal advance at 
Seven Pines. In the latter famous encounter, Corporal 
Biggers was severely wounded in the left hip, which dis¬ 
abled him for further service as a soldier, and he was 
honorably discharged. Since the close of this honorable 
military career he has occupied the office of deputy clerk 
of the superior court of Davidson county for about ten 
years, and for many years has been prominently associ¬ 
ated with the business development of his city as cashier 
of the bank of Lexington. 

Captain John D. Biggs, Sixty-first North Carolina reg¬ 
iment, now prominent in the lumber industry at Wil- 
liamston, was born in Martin county in 1839. On Novem¬ 
ber 4, 1861, he enlisted in Company H of the Sixty-first 
regiment, and was made first sergeant. On May 1, 1862, 
he was elected first lieutenant, and on May 30, 1864, was 
promoted captain of his company. During 1862 and 1863 
he served with the troops engaged in the defense of 
North Carolina, going into battle during Foster’s raid in 
October, 1862, and at Kinston in November of the same 
year. In Clingman’s brigade of Hoke’s division he took 
part in the battle of Drewry’s Bluff in May, 1864, at Cold 
Harbor, in the fighting about Petersburg up to and includ¬ 
ing the battle of the Crater, the battle of Fort Harrison, 


384 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


October, 1864, and then returning to North Carolina par¬ 
ticipated in the operations about Fort Fisher and Wil¬ 
mington, fought at Kinston in March, 1865, and at the 
battle of Bentonville was severely wounded by a minie 
ball in the right thigh, disabling him for two months. 
Upon his recovery the war was at an end, and he soon 
afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits, which occupied 
him until 1890, when he embarked in the lumber busi¬ 
ness. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Dennis 
Simmons lumber company. He has served as commis¬ 
sioner of his county, and is a director of the insane 
asylum. In 1871 Captain Biggs was married to Fanny, 
daughter of John Alexander, of Terrell county, and they 
have five children, Dennis S., Patty A., wife of A. 
Crawford, John D., Harry and Carrie A. 

Noah Biggs, a worthy citizen of Scotland Neck, Va., is 
one of four brothers who entered the military service of 
the Confederate States, one of whom was killed at the 
first battle of Manassas. He was born near Williams- 
ton, June 9, 1842, and was educated in the old field 
schools. On May 20, 1861, he enlisted in a volunteer 
company which at a later date became Company A, 
Seventeenth regiment, State troops. In August follow¬ 
ing, the entire command was captured by the Federal 
invasion at Hatteras island, but this disaster he fortun¬ 
ately escaped by being absent on furlough. He then 
joined the Scotland Neck mounted riflemen, afterward 
Company G, Third North Carolina cavalry, and served 
with this command until 1863, when he was transferred 
to Company H, Sixty-first infantry, of which his brother, 
John D. Biggs, was captain. He was connected with 
this regiment during the remainder of the war. In Vir¬ 
ginia he participated in the fighting of Clingman’s bri¬ 
gade of Hoke’s division, at Bermuda Hundred, Second 
Cold Harbor, Fort Harrison, the battle of the Crater, and 
other operations about Petersburg, including many 
months in the trenches, and then in North Carolina was 
in the engagement at Wilmington, at Kinston and the 
battle of Bentonville, and was surrendered with the army 
of General Johnston. Soon after the return of peace he 
embarked in mercantile life as a clerk at Scotland Neck, 
rising in 1869 to the position of proprietor of a store of 
his own, and for fifteen years he conducted a very sue- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


385 


cessful business. His recent years have been given to 
retirement and to beneficent deeds that have crowned his 
life with the affectionate regard of his fellow men. He 
is one of the founders and a trustee of the Baptist orphan 
asylum at Thomasville. Since 1883 he has been a mem¬ 
ber of the board of trustees of Wake Forest college. 
He was married, April 22, 1873, to Mary Lawrence, of 
Halifax county, and they have one daughter, Annie. 

James Cooke Birdsong, of Raleigh, State librarian from 
1885 to 1893, rendered his military service in a regiment 
of Virginia, of which State he is a native, born in South¬ 
ampton county in 1842. He enlisted April 20, 1861, as 
a private in Company B, Twelfth Virginia regiment, 
Mahone’s brigade, and served as a private until the end 
of the war. He was in battle at Seven Pines and Second 
Manassas, and was then in hospital until the first of 1862. 
At Chancellorsville he was captured and thence taken to 
the Old Capitol prison, but paroled twenty days later and 
exchanged in September, 1863. In the battle of Cold 
Harbor, 1864, he was shot in the right shoulder and dis¬ 
abled until early in 1865. Other battles in which he par¬ 
ticipated were Brandy Station, Hatcher’s Run, Burgess’ 
Mill and Farmville. Finally he was paroled at Appomat¬ 
tox. He has resided at Raleigh since 1866, engaged in 
the printing business when not in official service. From 
1876 to 1897 he filled the position of examiner of State 
printing. In 1893 he published a volume of “Brief 
Sketches” of the North Carolina troops, compiled by him 
under the direction of the general assembly. 

George Bishop, of New Bern, was born at that city in 
August, 1824, the son of Samuel Bishop, a native of 
Craven county, born in 1792, who served with the North 
Carolina troops in the war of 1812. Beginning in 1850, 
Mr. Bishop was engaged in wood manufacture at New 
Bern. In 1847 he married Eliza B. Good, of that 
city, who died in 1849, and in December, 1851, he was 
married to Eliza Jane Kilpatrick, of Suffolk, Va. His 
business was diverted in i860 to the manufacture of war 
supplies for the State, such as ambulances and camp 
fixtures, and in addition to this service he became a mem¬ 
ber of the Athens Guards, organized at New Bern, which 
was mustered in under the command of Col. Henry J. B. 


386 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Clark. After six months’ service he was detailed to 
manufacture camp -and ordnance material, and was so 
engaged at New Bern until the battle there, in which he 
took part with his regiment. He was subsequently 
engaged in the manufacture of wood canteens for the 
army until December, 1863, when he contracted to furnish 
supplies for the Atlantic & North Carolina railroad at 
Goldsboro. Since December, 1865, he has been a resident 
of New Bern. By his second marriage he has eight 
children living: Edward K., Julia A.,wife of J. W. Small¬ 
wood, Eliza J., wife of Green Bryan, Susan Caroline and 
Mary Virginia (twins, born September 10, 1862), Robert 
Hoke, Samuel Cooper, William Herbert. 

Colonel Charles Christopher Blacknall was born in 
Granville county, N. C., December 4, 1830. Through 
his grandfather, Thomas Blacknall, the boy soldier of the 
revolution, and his great-great-grandfather, the Rev. 
John Blacknall, one of the first Episcopal clergymen to 
officiate in North Carolina, his line has been traced back 
through fifteen generations of English gentlemen to the 
Blacknalls of Wing, Buckinghamshire, whose armorial 
bearings were old when Columbus sailed to discover the 
new world. The Blacknalls have ever been quick to 
draw the sword in defense of liberty. In the revolution 
the family sent its two male members, mere lads, into the 
patriot ranks. With eleven members of military age it 
sent fourteen into the Confederate service, and gave five 
lives for Southern independence. In 1851 Colonel Black¬ 
nall married Miss Virginia Spencer. He had prepared 
himself for the law, but, although an effective speaker, 
and by nature fitted to succeed in intellectual rather 
than practical pursuits, by some perversity of circum¬ 
stance he became a merchant instead of a lawyer. Tak¬ 
ing deep interest in the political contest that ended in 
war, and fully convinced that the safety of the South lay 
in separation from the North, he was necessarily and log¬ 
ically a secessionist. When the war came on he devoted 
himself to the defense of the South with an ardor not 
surpassed by any of his contemporaries, and which flagged 
not while he lived. In May, 1861, he raised, and was 
elected captain of the Granville Riflemen, which became 
Company G of the Thirteenth, afterward known as the 
Twenty-third North Carolina volunteers. In June, 1862, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


387 


he was promoted to major, and in August, 1863, to col¬ 
onel. On the retreat in the Peninsular campaign he dis¬ 
tinguished himself at great peril by saving from capture 
a part of his company occupying rifle-pits near the enemy. 
At Seven Pines he was thrice wounded and his horse was 
killed, falling on him, he having gone into battle mounted, 
rather than be kept inactive by a severe abscess on the 
knee. His regiment led the van in the famous flanking 
march at Chancellorsville, on which he displayed charac¬ 
teristic gallantry and steadiness by charging, with a hand¬ 
ful of men, some suddenly unmasked Federal guns which 
had struck down the head of the column. In the impet¬ 
uous onset of that evening and the next morning he con¬ 
tributed his full share to the Chancellorsville victory, but 
in a flank attack made by the enemy in overwhelming 
force, toward the close of the battle, he was surrounded 
and captured in a redoubt which, with a few men, he had 
just carried. Exchange liberated him just in time for the 
Gettysburg campaign. On the first day of the great bat¬ 
tle his regiment bore the focal fire that nearly annihilated 
Iverson’s devoted brigade, which, unable to advance, lit¬ 
erally died where it stood, not a man going to the rear. 
In the heat of the action Major Blacknall was severely 
wounded through the mouth and neck. He was captured 
on the retreat through the mountains, and escaped, but 
owing to his wounds was again taken. When lots were 
cast at Fort McHenry to select a Confederate officer to be 
hanged in retaliation for a Federal about to be executed as 
a spy in Richmond, Colonel Blacknall drew the fatal num¬ 
ber, but for reasons unknown his life was spared. While 
spending the winter of 1863-64 amid the hunger, cold and 
misery of the bleak prison on Johnson’s island. Lake Erie, 
he was elected an officer to lead the forlorn hope in an 
assault with brick-bats on the guards, but the plan was 
betrayed, the guards heavily reinforced, and the escape of 
the 1,800 officers to Canada rendered impossible. Again 
in 1864, as in 1863, he was exchanged just in time to take 
part in the most desperate fighting of the campaign, the 
prolonged death grapple which attended Grant’s move¬ 
ment to Lee’s right flank in May and June. Colonel 
Blacknall afterward led his regiment in Early’s Shen¬ 
andoah Valley campaign, taking effective part in the 
numberless battles and skirmishes of the noted march on 
Washington, a member of his original company having, 
Nc 48 


388 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


it is said, fallen nearest of all Confederate soldiers to the 
Federal capital. Sheridan’s advance on Winchester, 
September 19, 1864, found Colonel Blacknall with his 
depleted regiment picketing the Berryville pike. Al¬ 
though his videttes were captured and his bivouac ridden 
down at dawn by a division of cavalry, he formed a square 
and fought his way back to his supports, receiving his 
death wound on the way. Too severely wounded to be 
brought off in the retreat, he was left in Winchester and 
died a prisoner in the enemy’s hands. Colonel Black- 
nail’s war career, the salient points of which alone have 
been outlined, was as picturesque and eventful as that of 
any other North Carolinian. To courage, the birthright 
of the Confederate soldier, he added a command of faculty, 
and sureness of thinking and acting in danger and 
emergency, possessed by few, and it is certain that no 
other officer of like rank in the Confederate service had 
in larger degree the confidence and affection of the men. 

Richard D. Blacknall, of Durham, a veteran of the 
artillery of the Confederate States army, was bom in 
Orange county, N. C., in 1846, a son of Richard Black¬ 
nall, M. D., who was a native of Granville county. The 
families of both his father, and his mother, Harriet 
Russell, are among the oldest in the State. The Black- 
nails settled in North Carolina in the early part of the 
eighteenth century, and were represented in the revolu¬ 
tionary war, two of them participating in the battle of 
Yorktown; and the Russell family was founded in Gran¬ 
ville county by his great-grandfather, who acquired a 
large tract of land under a patent from King George III. 
In 1864, at the age of seventeen years, Mr. Blacknall 
enlisted as a private in Moseley’s battery of light artillery 
and served at Fort Caswell, at the mouth of Cape Fear 
river, from April of that year until January 16, 1865. 
After the fall of Fort Fisher he was one of the garrison 
which defended Fort Anderson until the ammunition 
was exhausted, and he subsequently retreated toward 
Fayetteville. During this campaign he took part in the 
battle of Town Creek, where his battery was severely 
handled. The battery was ordered to Danville, Va., and 
soon afterward was returned to North Carolina and 
attached to the reserve artillery of Johnston’s army. He 
was paroled at Greensboro, in the rank of corporal, to 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


389 


which he had been promoted in the fall of 1864. After this 
Mr. Blacknall engaged in business, and in 1873 embarked 
in the drug trade, in which he has had a very successful 
career. He has taken a leading part in municipal affairs, 
serving as alderman and acting mayor. In 1881 he was 
married to Sadie Fuller, daughter of R. H. J. Blount. 

Jacob Henry Blakemore, of Mount Airy, N. C., is a 
native of Virginia, born at Mount Crawford, August 12, 
1832. In 1859 he removed to Augusta, Ga., and there 
enlisted in April, 1861, as a private in the celebrated 
Letcher Guards. On being mustered into the Confeder¬ 
ate service he took part in the Peninsular campaign and 
the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, in the com¬ 
mand of General Longstreet, and subsequently fought 
at Savage Station and Fredericksburg. After the latter 
battle he was transferred to the band of the Fifty-third 
Georgia regiment, as a musician, and served in that 
capacity in the campaigns of the army of Northern Vir¬ 
ginia, until the spring of 1864 he joined Breathed’s bat¬ 
talion of Stuart’s horse artillery, and was assigned to 
duty as chief bugler of the battalion. In this position he 
was with this famous body of fighters in the thick of the 
conflict of 1864 and 1865 until his command was disbanded 
after the surrender, at Staunton, Va. Not long after¬ 
ward he made his home at Mount Airy, where he has 
ever since been quite successfully engaged in the busi¬ 
ness of photography. 

Merritt E. Blalock, commander of the camp of United 
Confederate Veterans at Norwood, was born at that place 
in June, 1841. His father was David Blalock; his 
mother Elizabeth, daughter of William Swearingen, a 
soldier of the war of 1812. He was educated in the 
schools of Stanley county, and reared upon his father’s 
farm, which he left early in 1862 to enlist in the month 
of February as a private in Company I, Fifty-second regi¬ 
ment, State troops. With the service of this command 
he was identified during the remainder of the war, being 
on duty mainly in North Carolina. During the campaign 
of 1864 he was with his regiment, a part of Kirkland’s 
brigade of North Carolinians, in the desperate struggle 
of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, and 
on the 10th of May lost his right thumb in battle. 


390 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


At Reams’ Station, Burgess’ Mill, Goldsboro and many 
other actions, he fully upheld the honor of his State as 
one of the gallant and self-sacrificing private soldiers who 
made the fame of her soldiers pre-eminent. At Burgess’ 
Mill he was nearly captured by the enemy, but, 
though surrounded, he followed his flag out, and fortu¬ 
nately escaped, while his comrades on each side fell dead 
upon the field. With the surrender at Appomattox his 
service came to an end, and since then he has been 
engaged quite successfully in business as a merchant, in 
the conduct of his extensive agricultural interests, and of 
late years as the proprietor of a roller flouring mill. His 
estimation by his surviving comrades of the Confederacy 
is shown by his rank in the camp of Stanley veterans. 
By his marriage in 1868 to Nancy Lee, in 1871 to Hettie 
R. Staton, and in 1892 to Estelle B. Cowan, he has the 
following children: Walter J., Uriah B., Gaston D., 
Ada, Ethel, Carl B., Merritt E. Jr., and Cowan B. Estelle 
Balfour (Cowan) Blalock is the mother of the last-named 
child, Cowan Balfour Blalock. She is the great-great- 
granddaughter of Gen. Hardy Griffin, who rendered 
military services in the revolutionary war of 1776. Gen¬ 
eral Griffin was a member of the first general assembly 
of North Carolina. He represented Wake county for 
sixteen consecutive years. Mrs. Blalock is also the great- 
great-granddaughter of Col. Andrew Balfour, who repre¬ 
sented Randolph county in the first general assembly of 
North Carolina. He was the only member of that assembly 
who could translate French communications received by 
that body. Colonel Balfour was educated in Edinburgh, 
Scotland, and was fitted to be of great benefit to his 
adopted home, North Carolina. In his death North 
Carolina lost a loyal citizen. He possessed the best 
library then in that section of the country. His wife 
was a Miss Elizabeth Dayton, of Rhode Island. After 
Colonel Balfour’s death, President Washington appointed 
her postmistress at Salisbury, which position she held for 
years. 

Captain William M. Blanton, of Marion, a gallant Con¬ 
federate veteran, was born in Rutherford county, N. C., 
the son of Charles Blanton, for a considerable time sheriff 
of Cleveland county. In the latter county Captain Blan¬ 
ton was educated, and in 1856 was elected to the State 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


391 


legislature. In March, 1859, he was married to Jose¬ 
phine Seltzer, of Iredell county, and he now has three 
children living, Josephus, John P. and Albert. In 1862 
he enlisted as a private in Company F of the Fifty-sixth 
regiment, North Carolina troops. His service of fourteen 
months with this command was rendered in eastern 
North Carolina, and during that period he encountered 
the enemy in various minor affairs and in the engage¬ 
ment at Gum swamp. He was then transferred to the 
Thirty-eighth regiment, with the rank of lieutenant, and 
joining this command at Orange Court House, Va., was 
soon after promoted to captain of the company. The 
Thirty-eighth regiment was part of the brigade of Gen. 
Alfred M. Scales, Wilcox’s division, A. P. Hill’s corps, 
and took a prominent part in the campaign from the 
Rapidan to the James, including the battles of the Wil¬ 
derness and Spottsylvania Court House. Throughout 
this struggle Captain Blanton displayed admirable quali¬ 
ties as a soldier and officer, and throughout the long 
weary defense of the Petersburg lines he served faith¬ 
fully and courageously. After the evacuation of Peters¬ 
burg he took part in the engagement at Farmville and 
various skirmishes, and finally was paroled at Appomat¬ 
tox in command of his company. His military record 
worthily supplements that of his grandfather, Burrell 
Blanton, who was a gallant soldier of the revolution. 
Since the war Captain Blanton has been engaged with 
much success in mercantile pursuits at Marion. He has 
taken a prominent part in municipal affairs, and in 1888 
was elected to the legislature from McDowell county. 

Levi Blount, of Plymouth, born in Washington county 
in 1840, was a faithful Confederate soldier in the Third 
North Carolina cavalry, and since the close of that hon¬ 
orable service has been distinguished in various official 
positions in his county. He enlisted as a private in Sep¬ 
tember, 1862, in Company K, Third cavalry, and from 
that time fought in the ranks, except during part of 
1863-64, when he served as courier to Col. A. M. Waddell, 
commander of the regiment. He participated in a con¬ 
siderable number of engagements with his gallant regi¬ 
ment, including the fights around Suffolk, Malvern Hill, 
1864, the battles about Petersburg in October, 1864, 
Bellefield, Smithfield and Franklin, Va.; and in North 


392 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Carolina was engaged near Plymouth and at Washington. 
After the close of hostilities he resided at New Bern a 
year, after which he embarked in business at Plymouth, 
his home since then. He served as town constable of 
Plymouth four years from 1878, and in December, 1881, 
was wounded while suppressing a negro riot. For more 
than a year he served as deputy sheriff, and subsequently 
was elected to the board of county commissioners. He 
was two years agent of the Norfolk & Southern railroad, 
and meanwhile was appointed sheriff of the county to fill 
a vacancy. He was afterward twice elected to this 
office, and served in all nearly seven years, proving to be 
a popular and efficient officer. Mr. Blount was married 
in 1868 to Sarah A. Newberry, and they have one child, 
Loulie May, wife of W. H. Hampton. 

William A. Blount, M. D., of Washington, N. C., sur¬ 
geon of the First North Carolina cavalry, was born at 
Washington in 1839, son of Thomas H. Blount, a native of 
Beaufort county, who served in the war of 1812. He was 
graduated in medicine at the university of New York in 
i860, and practiced his profession in Pitt county until 
January, 1862, when he became assistant surgeon, at¬ 
tached to Rodman’s company, with which he served until 
captured at New Bern, where he had remained in charge 
of the wounded. He was paroled and sent to Washing¬ 
ton in charge of his patients and exchanged just after the 
Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond. After a short 
service at the conscript camp at Raleigh, he asked for 
duty in the field, and was assigned as assistant surgeon 
of the First North Carolina cavalry regiment, and in the 
spring of 1863 was promoted surgeon. He was with his 
regiment under fire at Hanover Junction, Brandy Sta¬ 
tion, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Harper’s Ferry, 
Gettysburg, Yellow Tavern, the demonstration before 
Washington, D. C., Winchester, Reams’ Station, Five 
Forks, Sailor’s creek and Appomattox. Since those 
heroic and exciting days he has been quietly engaged in 
his professional duties at Washington, where he is highly 
regarded by all. 

Lieutenant Duncan A. Blue, of Southern Pines, a vet¬ 
eran of Ransom’s brigade, was born in Moore county in 
1841, the son of Daniel Blue, and a member of a family 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


393 


which came to North Carolina from Argyle, Scotland, 
about the year 1808. He was reared upon the farm of 
his parents and educated in the schools of the vicinity, 
and thus his life passed quietly until the secession of 
North Carolina, and the defense of the South, which 
became necessary, called him to scenes of war. He 
enlisted as a private in Company C, Thirty-fifth regiment, 
State troops, under Capt. J. M. Kelly, was made orderly- 
sergeant of his regiment, and subsequently promoted to 
second lieutenant, but was captured by the enemy before 
he received his commission. His record was that of his 
regiment and Ransom’s brigade, first in the fight at New 
Bern, then in the carnage of the Seven Days before Rich¬ 
mond, in the thick of the terrible fighting at Sharpsburg 
and Fredericksburg, and in these and the many other 
engagements of his command he bore himself as a true 
soldier of North Carolina. In the battle of Petersburg, 
June 17, 1864, he was captured, and subsequently he was 
imprisoned at Point Lookout and Elmira, N. Y., until 
released on account of sickness in October, 1864. He 
was never able to rejoin his regiment. Since the war he 
has been engaged in the turpentine industry, and is now 
a prosperous and influential citizen. By his marriage in 
1874 to Sarah E. Wicker, he has the following children: 
Cattie, Lawrence, Maggie, Walter, Lulu, Myrtle, Carrie, 
Carson, Lalan, Shelton, and Bernice. 

Gabriel J. Boney, of Wilmington, a survivor of the 
campaigns of 1864-65 in North Carolina, was born in Du¬ 
plin county in 1845, and was there reared and educated. 
When eighteen years of age, in March, 1864, he enlisted 
in Company H of the Fortieth regiment, North Carolina 
troops, and was on duty until the war was practically 
ended, completing his service in a northern prison camp. 
He was in the fight with the Federal gunboats at Fort 
Anderson; and at Town Creek, having been promoted 
corporal, was in command of twenty men on the line. 
His last fight was at Bentonville, where the North Caro¬ 
lina soldiers in the State made their last demonstration 
of heroic valor. Being captured by the enemy, March 
19, 1865, he was transported to Point Lookout, Md., and 
confined until June 4th. After he reached home again 
he gave his attention to mercantile pursuits in his native 
county until 1873, when he removed to Wilmington. 


394 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


There he was engaged in the commission business until 
1884, when he entered the milling trade, in which he has 
attained much prominence and gratifying success. He 
is influential in municipal affairs and has held the office 
of alderman four years. A brother, William J. Boney, 
served one year as lieutenant of Company E, Thirtieth 
regiment, and subsequently was engaged in saltmaking 
for the Confederate government. 

Lieutenant Macon Bonner, commander of Bryan Grimes 
camp, United Confederate Veterans, at Washington, 
N. C., was born at that city in 1836, the son of Richard H. 
Bonner, of Scotch descent, who was a soldier of 1812, a 
member of the constitutional convention of 1835, an d a 
magistrate for many years in Beaufort county. Command¬ 
er Bonner was educated at Mt. Holly college and Prince¬ 
ton, N. J., and in September, 1861, entered the Confeder¬ 
ate service as first lieutenant of Company A, Thirty-first 
North Carolina regiment. Early in 1862 he was transferred 
with his company to the heavy artillery, and stationed at 
Fort Hill, near Washington, and later at Fort Fisher, 
where they remained until December, 1863, when they 
were ordered to Fort Holmes on Bald Head island. In the 
fall of 1864 his company and several others were sent to 
Augusta, Ga., and later to Savannah, to meet the inva¬ 
sion of General Sherman, with whose forces he was en¬ 
gaged in several skirmishes. After the evacuation of 
Savannah he was taken sick and disabled for a few weeks, 
but was with his command again at Fort Holmes until 
the fall of Fort Fisher, when he was stationed at Fort 
Anderson, and participated in the fight with the enemy. 
At the evacuation of this fort he was captured, and con¬ 
fined at the Old Capitol prison and Fort Delaware, until 
June 30, 1865. Since then he has resided at Washington, 
where he served as postmaster, by appointment of Presi¬ 
dent Cleveland, for four years from April, 1885. 

Captain Thomas D. Boone, of Winton, a gallant officer 
of the First regiment, North Carolina State troops, was 
born in Northampton county, October 12, 1840. He was 
educated at Wake Forest college, with graduation in 1859, 
and then entered upon the profession of teaching. At 
the beginning of the war of the Confederacy he was thus 
engaged in Mississippi, but he promptly abandoned this 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


395 


vocation to enter the military service of his State, and 
returning to North Carolina, enlisted May 5, 1861, in the 
company of Capt. J. M. Harrell, of Hertford county, 
which became Company F, First regiment of infantry, 
Col. M. S. Stokes commanding. Becoming first sergeant 
of his company, he was successively promoted second lieu¬ 
tenant, first lieutenant and captain. With his regi¬ 
ment he participated in the Seven Days’ battles around 
Richmond, in one of which Colonel Stokes was killed, 
and bore an honorable part in the famous engagements 
of South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chan- 
cellorsville, Winchester, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and 
in fact all the battles of his command up to its surrender 
at Appomattox, when he was one of the remnant of the 
army with Lee. He was wounded by a piece of shell at 
Chancellorsville, and during Early’s Valley campaign of 
1864 was wounded in the side by a minie ball at Win¬ 
chester. On the close of hostilities he resumed his occu¬ 
pation of teaching, and continued in it until in 1886 he 
was elected clerk of the superior court of Hertford 
county, a position he has held by repeated elections ever 
since. By his marriage, in 1864, to Margaret Vann, he 
has four children, John V., Willie H., Sallie S., and 
Lucy A. Captain Boone has published a history of his 
company, a composition of rare interest, covering the 
famous campaigns of the army of Northern Virginia and 
Early’s command in the valley, which is a faithful pic¬ 
ture of the valor and endurance of the soldiery of North 
Carolina, and a valuable contribution to war literature. 

Lieutenant William H. Borden, of Goldsboro, a patri¬ 
otic citizen who gave four years’ service to the cause of 
the Confederate States, is a native of Goldsboro, born in 
1841, and enlisted there in April, 1861, in a volunteer 
company which became Company E of the Twenty- 
seventh regiment, North Carolina State troops. After 
one year’s service in this command, on the Virginia pen¬ 
insula, he was appointed adjutant of the Fiftieth regi¬ 
ment. He held this position for two years, participating 
in the service of his regiment, and then resigned his 
adjutancy and was commissioned first lieutenant of Com¬ 
pany E of the same regiment. In this rank he partici¬ 
pated in the North Carolina campaign against Sherman, 
fought at the battle of Bentonville, and surrendered at 


396 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


High Point, when further conflict was in vain. Since 
the war he has resided at Goldsboro, where he is success¬ 
fully engaged in business as furniture manufacturer. 
James C. Borden, a brother of the foregoing, held the 
rank of captain in the First North Carolina cavalry, 
served throughout the war with that famous command, 
and surviving the perils of battle, died at his home in 
1885. 

McDowell Boyd, of Pinnacle, N. C., is a native of Pitt 
county, born April 20, 1846. On account of his youth he 
did not enter the Confederate service in the field until 
the last year of the war, though he was previously on 
duty as a drill-master at Weldon and Goldsboro. Then, 
enlisting as a private in Company H of the Sixteenth 
battalion, in the cavalry brigade of Gen. W. P. Roberts, 
he joined the army of Northern Virginia at Orange Court 
House and fought under Fitzhugh Lee during the cam¬ 
paigns of 1864, participating in the fights at Belfield, 
Reams’ Station and other noted combats. Toward the 
close of the war, while at home to obtain a fresh horse, 
he was cut off from the army by the Federals. He then 
reported to General Whitford and served with his com¬ 
mand in eastern North Carolina until the surrender. 
He was paroled at Swift Creek, and returned to his home, 
and in 1875 removed to Pinnacle, where he has since 
resided, prospering in his occupation as a farmer, also as 
a manufacturer of tobacco, his business during the past 
few years. He has served as deputy sheriff of Surry 
county, and now holds the position of gauger for Stokes 
county in the United States internal revenue service. 
In 1866 he was married to Annie Bernard. 

Robert H. Bradley, marshal and librarian of the su¬ 
preme court of North Carolina, was born in Edgecombe 
county in 1840. He enlisted April 18, 1861, in the 
Edgecombe Guards, Capt. J. L. Bridgers, which later was 
assigned as Company A to the First North Carolina regi¬ 
ment. He was associated with this regiment during its 
six months’ service, in which time it was so fortu¬ 
nate as to demonstrate in the first battle of the war, at 
Big Bethel, on the Virginia peninsula, the daring and 
staying qualities of the North Carolina soldier. In this 
affair Private Bradley was one of the five who were vol- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


397 


unteers from Company A to advance between the lines 
of battle and fire a house which had been used as a shel¬ 
ter by the enemy. In making this attempt Henry L. 
Wyatt, one of the five, was killed by a volley from the 
enemy, being the first Confederate soldier killed in line 
of battle in the great war. After the disbandment of 
the Bethel regiment Mr. Bradley was assigned to duty 
as a guard at the Salisbury prison, but was at once de¬ 
tailed for service in the office of the Southern express 
company at Raleigh, where he remained until April, 
1865. This assignment was made on account of his disa¬ 
bility, caused by an accidental wound in the left arm. 
After the close of hostilities he became a merchant at 
Raleigh until 1879, when he was appointed to the posi¬ 
tion of marshal and librarian of the supreme court, which 
he has held for more than two decades. 

Captain John Goldsmith Bragaw, of Washington, 
N. C., is one of the many men of Northern birth, includ¬ 
ing some officers of great prominence, who were loyally 
devoted to the South during the great war. He was 
born on Long Island, N. Y., in 1838, and made his home 
at Washington in 1858. In the summer of 1862, at Golds¬ 
boro, he entered the military service, and, being incapaci¬ 
tated for duty in the field, was assigned to the quarter¬ 
master’s department. In the following year he was 
commissioned assistant commissary by Governor Vance, 
with the rank of captain, and stationed below Kinston, 
but not long afterward he resigned this rank and re¬ 
turned to his former duties at Goldsboro. There he 
remained until the close of hostilities. In February, 1865, 
he was married at Greenville to Anne C., daughter of 
Henry C. Hoyt, and after a visit to New York they made 
their home at Washington. They have six children liv¬ 
ing: William, Stephen C., Annie T., Henry C., John 
G., and Richard. Captain Bragaw is a son of William 
Bragaw, a native of Long Island, born in 1790, died in 
1879, who served with the rank of major in the war of 
1812. 

Alpheus Branch, born in Halifax county, N. C., May 7, 
1843, died at his home in Wilson, January 3, 1893, was 
in his lifetime one of the most prominent business men 
of that part of the State, enterprising, liberal, broad- 


398 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


minded, and financially very successful. His father, 
Capt. S. Warren Branch, a prosperous planter, was a 
leader in political affairs in the ante-war period. The 
son, whose life is here briefly described, was educated 
at the academy of Dr. Charles F. Deems, at the Horner 
school and Trinity college. The latter institution he left 
at the age of seventeen years to enlist in the military 
service of the State. Throughout the war he served with 
gallantry in the Scotland Neck cavalry. After the close 
of the great struggle he maintained an interest in military 
matters as an honorary member of the Wilson light 
infantry. On returning to the affairs of civil life in 1865 
he was united in marriage to Nannie, the daughter of 
Gen. Joshua Barnes, of Wilson county, who yet survives. 
He was engaged in agriculture for three years, and then 
established at Wilson the mercantile house of Branch 
& Co., which became widely known as remarkably suc¬ 
cessful in business, and its name as a synonym for com¬ 
mercial integrity. He was also the senior partner in a 
house at Spring Hope, was very influential in the estab¬ 
lishment of the Wilson cotton mills in 1883, of which he 
was president and principal stockholder; was a stock¬ 
holder and member of the auditing committee of the Wil¬ 
mington & Weldon railroad, and was the founder and 
president of the banking house which bore his name. 
These institutions, under his management, were con¬ 
ducted for the best interests of his fellow citizens and for 
the promotion of the growth of the town in which he was 
interested. At his death he provided that the bank and 
the mill should continue in the hands of trustees in the 
same liberal policy. In business he was active, untiring 
and indomitable; in social life courtly, hospitable and 
gentle. There have been few, if any, more noble types 
of the manhood that was represented in the ranks of the 
armies of the Confederacy. 

Lieutenant Seth Bridgman, a prominent citizen of 
Washington, N. C., born in Hyde county in 1841, served 
during the war of the Confederacy among the troops for 
State defense. He became a resident of Washington in 
1858, and there, in April, 1861, enlisted as a member of 
the Washington Grays. He went with this company to 
Portsmouth, N. C., and was there taken sick, requiring 
that he should be left behind when the command was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


399 


ordered to Hatteras. In this way it happened that he 
escaped the capture which befell most of his company. 
Subsequently with the remnant of the Grays he returned 
to Washington and was at once attached to the company 
of Capt. W. B. Rodman. Sickness again disabled him, 
and upon his recovery he joined the company of Captain 
Whitehurst, which was assigned to the Fortieth regiment, 
heavy artillery. This regiment he entered as a private, 
and continuing in the service until just before the fall of 
Fort Fisher, when he was granted a furlough of sixty 
days, he rose to the rank of second lieutenant. It was 
not his fortune to participate in many battles, the engage¬ 
ment at New Bern and skirmishes about Fort Fisher 
constituting his main experiences. Since the war Mr. 
Bridgman has been for some time prominent in business 
and financial circles as president of the Bank of Washing¬ 
ton. In 1865 he was married to Mary E. Carrow, and 
they have five children living: Margaret A., wife of 
Doane Herring, Anne H., Flattie G., Celia R., and 
Henry P. Bridgman. 

Colonel John Luther Bridgers, a distinguished North 
Carolina soldier, was born in Edgecombe county, Novem¬ 
ber 28, 1822. He was graduated with distinction at the 
university of North Carolina, and licensed to practice law, 
in which he was actively engaged at Tarboro, also man¬ 
aging his agricultural interests, until the outbreak of 
war. He was a man of noble character; strong but 
gentle, his firmness mixed with mercy; and was success¬ 
ful in his enterprises without injustice to his fellows. As 
member of the legislature and solicitor for Greene 
county he attained prominence early in his career. At 
the crisis in 1861 he was regarded as one of the strong 
men of the State, was one of Governor Ellis’ councillors 
of State and intimate friend, and was sent as commis¬ 
sioner to the Montgomery conference. At the organiza¬ 
tion of the Edgecombe Guards in 1859 he had been unan¬ 
imously chosen captain, and his command was the first 
to tender its services to the governor. Early in 1861 it 
went into camp at Raleigh, and was assigned as Company 
A to the First regiment, North Carolina volunteers, Col. 
D. H. Hill. Captain Bridgers accompanied the regiment 
to Virginia, and on June 11, 1861, took a conspicuous 
part in the battle of Big Bethel, his company suffering 


400 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


greater loss than all the other troops combined, and 
furnishing the first martyr of the war, Private Henry L. 
Wyatt. Captain Bridgers gallantly led his company in 
a charge upon the enemy, driving the Zouaves from the 
advanced howitzer battery. Colonel Hill reported: “It 
is impossible to overestimate this service. It decided 
the action in our favor,” and General Magruder also 
alluded in the most complimentary terms to the daring 
gallantry of Captain Bridgers at the critical period of the 
battle. Subsequently Captain Bridgers was promoted to 
lieutenant-colonel of the Tenth artillery, commanded by 
Col. J. A. J. Bradford, and after the latter officer was 
captured by the Federals at Fort Macon, Bridgers suc¬ 
ceeded to the command, and occupied the fort until fail¬ 
ing health compelled him to resign. In the latter part 
of 1863 he declined, on account of ill health, the promo¬ 
tion of brigadier-general in cavalry. Afterward, when 
his health permitted, he was on duty upon the staff of 
Gen. D. H. Hill, when the latter was in command in 
eastern North Carolina. He was also associated with his 
brother, R. R. Bridgers, at the request of the govern¬ 
ment, in the management of the High Shoals iron fur¬ 
naces, nail and rolling mills, which were the second in 
importance in the South, and did much government 
work. At the close of hostilities he resumed his profes¬ 
sional work until forced to retire to his farm on account 
of sickness. He died January 22, 1884, after a long 
illness. 

Captain Benjamin F. Briggs, of Wilson, N. C., was born 
in Wayne county in 1836, and was there reared and edu¬ 
cated. As a young man he held a station of much promi¬ 
nence in his community, and resigned the office of clerk of 
the superior court to enter the Confederate service in the 
summer of 1862. He enlisted as a private in Company 
A of the Fifty-fifth regiment, was at once appointed first 
sergeant, soon afterward promoted third lieutenant, then 
passed through the grades of second and first lieutenant, 
and after the battle of Gettysburg was promoted captain 
of his company. Among the engagements in which he 
participated were those of the Suffolk campaign, three 
days of battle of Gettysburg, Falling Waters, the Wil¬ 
derness, Spottsylvania Court House, and the subsequent 
fighting from the Rapidan to the James, after which he 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


401 


was on duty in the trenches about Petersburg until the 
evacuation. He then resigned, expecting to enter the 
cavalry, but the speedy termination of the war made that 
impossible. He was slightly wounded at Gettysburg and 
at the Wilderness. Returning to Wilson county, he was 
elected clerk of the county court in 1866, and in 1867 
sheriff of the county, an office which, by re-election, he 
held for six years. He is now proprietor of the Briggs 
hotel, at Wilson, and an influential citizen. In 1859 he 
was married to Nannie J., daughter of Jonathan Barnes, 
who died in 1895, leaving one child, Roscoe G. In 
December, 1897, he married Elizabeth K., daughter of 
Col. Boland B. Barrow, of Edgecombe county. 

Joseph L. Britt, of Enfield, was born in Edgecombe 
county, N. C., March 16, 1842, and in i860 removed with 
his parents to Halifax county, where he enlisted in April, 
1861, in the Enfield Blues, which became Company I of 
the First regiment of volunteers. He accompanied this 
command to Yorktown, Va., and was present at the bat¬ 
tle of Big Bethel, which was fought mainly by the First 
regiment of the Confederate side. On the next day one 
of his brothers was accidentally killed at Yorktown, this 
being the only fatality among the six brothers, all of 
whom served honorably in the Confederate ranks. After 
the First regiment disbanded at the end of its six 
months’ enlistment, Private Britt re-enlisted in Company 
F, Thirty-sixth regiment, heavy artillery, and soon after¬ 
ward was promoted to a non-commissioned officer, in 
which capacity he continued until the close of hostilities. 
He was in battle at New Bern, and was one of the 
heroic garrison of Fort Fisher under Colonel Lamb, tak¬ 
ing part in the defense of the fort against the two attacks 
in the winter of 1864-65. At the last battle he was 
wounded by a shot through the thigh and captured by 
the enemy. He was in hospital at Hampton, Va., until 
his recovery, and was then confined at Fort Delaware 
until June 29, 1865, when he was finally paroled. After 
farming for twelve years following the war, he estab¬ 
lished himself in business as a merchant, and has contin¬ 
ued in that occupation, first for a few years at Tarboro, 
and since then at Enfield. Mr. Britt was married in 1869 
to Emma, daughter of L. H. Morris, of Halifax county. 
She died a few years later, and in 1881 he married 


402 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Josephine Hawkins, of the same county. They have 
seven children living: Normalena, Arthur Lawrence, 
Joseph Burchmans, Maurice, Francis, Mary Louise and 
Josephine Clara. 

Major Marcus L. Brittain, of Murphy, was born in 
Macon county, N. C., in 1827, the son of Benjamin S. 
Brittain, a native of Buncombe county, who, after his 
marriage to Celia Vance, removed with his family to 
Macon county, and thence in 1842 to Cherokee county, 
which he represented several terms in the State legisla¬ 
ture, and also represented as a soldier in the first year of 
the Confederate war, at the close of that time being hon¬ 
orably discharged on account of age and illness, from 
which he died soon afterward. Major Brittain, after 
becoming of age, was first engaged in iron manufactur¬ 
ing on Hanging Dog creek, being one of the first to util¬ 
ize the mineral wealth of the county; later entered upon 
a business career as a merchant at Valley Town, now 
Andrews, and removed to Murphy in i860, where he 
abandoned his business interests in 1862 to enlist in the 
State military service. He was soon afterward commis¬ 
sioned by Governor Vance as major of the Forty-seventh 
North Carolina battalion, with which he served in a num¬ 
ber of engagements, the most important of which was at 
Murphy in 1864, where with about 100 men he attacked 
an invading force of 1,500, and though obliged to retreat 
with some loss, captured about 25 prisoners. Soon after 
this affair he was captured by the enemy and sent to 
Knoxville, where the Federal authorities meditated his 
execution. Information that it was decided upon reached 
his friends at Murphy, and thereupon two citizens, 
Pleasant Henry and Edmond Dewees, both Union men, 
hastened to Knoxville on foot, 80 miles over the 
mountain, and by their intercession, saved his life. At 
that place he and his fellow prisoners were confined in an 
old jail without heat, and many of them died from the 
hardships of their imprisonment. Later he was trans¬ 
ferred to Camp Morton, Ind., where, personally, he was 
in a more comfortable condition on account of being 
detailed for special duty, but was the unwilling witness of 
suffering among his comrades which was most harrow¬ 
ing. When released, after the close of hostilities, he 
returned home and engaged in farming until 1882, when 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


403 


he removed to Murphy and resumed mercantile pursuits, 
from which he has only recently retired. By his mar¬ 
riage in 1852 to Sarah C., daughter of David H. Hen- 
nesa, a farmer of Valley River, he has eight children 
living. 

Captain David G. Broadhurst, ex-mayor of Goldsboro, 
and a veteran of the Twentieth regiment, was born in 
Wayne county in 1844. He enlisted April 27, 1861, in 
the volunteer organization which became Company E of 
the Tenth volunteers, after the reorganization, Twentieth 
regiment, North Carolina troops. He served as a private 
until the fall of 1862, when he was transferred to Company 
K of the same regiment, and commissioned second 
lieutenant. Promotion speedily followed to first lieuten¬ 
ant, and in the following March he was elected captain. 
He was a gallant participant in the Seven Days’ battles, 
fought at South Mountain and Sharpsburg, and on the 
field of victor) 7 at Chancellorsville suffered the loss of his 
right hand. This severe wound put an end to his mil¬ 
itary career and he resigned in the summer following. 
Since the war he has resided in Wayne county, where he 
held the office of superintendent of public instruction 
from 1887 to 1893, and served two years as mayor of 
Goldsboro. His brother, William G. Broadhurst, now 
living in Wayne county, served throughout the war as a 
private, first in the Twentieth regiment and later in the 
First cavalry. 

Robert Hall Brooks, of Raleigh, since February, 1898, 
superintendent of the North Carolina Soldiers’ home, 
was one of the heroic youth of the State who left their 
collegiate studies to encounter the perils of battle. He 
was born in October 1841, at Wake Forest, the son of 
William Tell Brooks, then professor of Latin and Greek 
at the college, and had advanced in his studies into the 
sophomore year when the call of his State drew him from 
his books to the field. He enlisted as a private in the 
Ellis light artillery, afterward known as Manly’s battery, 
in April, 1861; in February, 1862, was promoted to cor¬ 
poral, and after the battle of Fredericksburg was given 
the rank of sergeant. He was actively engaged during 
the siege of Yorktown by the Federal forces, fired the 
first shot at Dam No. 1 on the peninsula, and participated 
No 49 


404 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in the affairs at Warwick island, Fort Magruder, and the 
battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Savage Station, 
White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill, during the hard- 
fought campaign before Richmond between Johnston and 
Lee and McClellan. While lying sick at Warrenton, 
Va., in October, 1862, he was captured and paroled, and 
being exchanged in the following month, took part in 
the battle of Fredericksburg. During 1864 and 1865 he 
was in numerous artillery engagements, including the 
great battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wil¬ 
derness, Spottsylvania (where he was slightly wounded), 
Cold Harbor and the affair at the Dunn house. In 
November, 1864, he was sent with a squad to western 
North Carolina for the purpose of recruiting the horses 
of Cabell’s battalion of artillery, and was still on this 
detail when the war came to an end. He then busied 
himself with farming at his home for nine years, and 
after a few years of service on the Raleigh & Gaston rail¬ 
road, engaged in mercantile pursuits at Raleigh until 
1891, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, the position 
he held until December, 1896. Mr. Brooks was married 
in 1866 to Annie; Seawell, and they have four children: 
William T., Nellie Lewis, Henry Seawell and John 
Brewer Brooks. 

Lieutenant Alexander Davidson Brown, now a promi¬ 
nent merchant of Wilmington, though a native of Scot¬ 
land, born in 1837, earnestly supported the cause of the 
State during the great war, and for four years wore the 
Confederate gray. He came to America in 1857, and for 
three years resided at Boston, not becoming a citizen of 
Wilmington until i860. He enlisted in April, 1861, as a 
private in the artillery company of Capt. James D. Cum¬ 
mings, later known as Battery C, of the Thirteenth bat¬ 
talion. In this gallant command he was successively 
promoted to corporal, junior second lieutenant and senior 
second lieutenant. During his military career he par¬ 
ticipated in the fighting at New Bern and on the Peters¬ 
burg lines in numerous engagements, took part in the 
fighting on the retreat from Petersburg, and at Appo¬ 
mattox Court House previous to the surrender. After 
his return to Wilmington he embarked in the dry goods 
trade in 1867, and in this line of business has made a 
successful career. He has served as director of the State 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


405 


penitentiary four years, and is recognized as a leading 
and influential citizen. In 1868 he was married to Eliza¬ 
beth, daughter of Thomas Emanuel, and they have two 
children, Rachel F., wife of F. D. Alexander of Char¬ 
lotte, and Maggie F. Brown. 

Captain John D. Brown, a soldier of the Confederacy, 
in these latter days enjoying comfort and prosperity as 
a farmer of Mecklenburg county, N. C., was born in 
Robeson county, November 17, 1840, the son of Archibald 
S. Brown, a lawyer of prominence in his time. When 
nineteen years of age he moved with his parents to 
Mecklenburg county, and there entered Davidson col¬ 
lege, of which he was a student at the beginning of the 
war era. He left his studies to enlist as a private in the 
company of Capt. W. B. Lynch, and upon its disband¬ 
ment became a member of Company I, Fifth North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry. He was with this command as private 
and sergeant until early in 1863, when he was elected 
third lieutenant of Company C, Thirty-seventh regiment. 
In 1864 he was promoted to captain of his company. 
Among the battles in which he participated were those of 
White Hall Bridge, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and the fighting 
in the trenches and in the vicinity of Petersburg. He 
was once wounded and twice captured. At Spottsylvania 
he first fell into the hands of the enemy, but was 
exchanged sixty days later. Finally, on the right of the 
line at Petersburg, a few days before the evacuation, he 
was made prisoner, and thence was carried to Johnson’s 
island, Lake Erie, where he was held until the following 
June. Subsequently he became a farmer in Mecklen¬ 
burg, met with success, increased his land holdings to 
some seven or eight farms, and for ten years conducted 
a good retail business at Davidson, where he now resides. 
By his marriage in 1864 to Mary Johnson he has ten 
children living. 

Captain Daniel O. Bryan, of Jonesboro, N. C., a gal¬ 
lant veteran of the Second cavalry, was born in 1835, 
son of Winship Bryan and his wife Nancy Mclver. He is 
of old North Carolina lineage, of Irish and Scotch origin. 
He was educated in the common schools and in early 
manhood was engaged in agriculture. Previous to the 


408 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


war he served as deputy sheriff of the county in the years 
1858 to i860. In the summer of 1861 he enlisted in the 
cavalry troop of Capt. Jesse L. Bryan, which became 
Company I, of the Nineteenth regiment State troops or 
Second cavalry, and was mustered in as second lieuten¬ 
ant. In 1862 he was promoted to first lieutenant, and in 
1864 to captain. In 1862, under the command of Col. 
S. B. Spruill, the regiment participated in numerous skir¬ 
mishes about New Bern, picketing the south side of the 
Neuse river until the fall, when under the command of 
Col. Sol Williams it was called into Virginia and joined to 
Stuart’s cavalry. It was on picket duty at Warrenton and 
on the Rappahannock, was engaged as skirmishers and 
sharpshooters at Fredericksburg, fought with Stoneman’s 
raiders, and was particularly distinguished in the battle 
of Brandy Station in June, 1863, when Colonel Williams 
was killed. In the fight at Upperville, soon afterward, 
Lieutenant Cole of Company I was killed and Lieutenant 
Bryan was badly wounded. The next important fight 
was at Hanover, Pa., and it did creditable work in the 
cavalry fight at Gettysburg. Subsequently it was iden¬ 
tified with the gallant record of Gordon’s brigade, later 
commanded by Barringer, until the end of the war. 
Captain Bryan was on the skirmish line fighting, at Ap¬ 
pomattox, when a courier rode up to bring them news of 
the surrender, but he, like many other cavalrymen, did 
not participate in that event, but cut his way out and 
never gave his parole. Reaching home May 12, 1865, he 
immediately went to farming, the occupation which he 
has ever since followed. He is an influential man in his 
county, has served as county commissioner by election in 
1888 and 1890, and for one term was chairman of the 
board. In 1868 he was married to Anna E. Gardner, of 
Carbonton, and they have two children: Elva and 
Marshal. 

Captain Edward K. Bryan, of New Bern, is a native 
of that city, born in 1835, of an honorable North Caro¬ 
lina lineage running back to the colonial period. His 
greatgrandfather, William Bryan, a native of Craven 
county, served in the revolutionary war for independence 
with the rank of brigadier-general. Captain Bryan was 
reared and educated at New Bern, and during Presi¬ 
dent Buchanan’s administration, held the office of deputy 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


407 


collector of customs for Pamlico district, but resigned 
after the election of Mr. Lincoln. In 1859 he was mar¬ 
ried to Mary Moore, of the same city. The advent of the 
crisis in national affairs found him second lieutenant of 
the Beauregard Rifles, and ready to serve in defense.of 
the State. He held the same rank after the Rifles were 
mustered in as Company I of the Second regiment, North 
Carolina troops. He served with his regiment in Vir¬ 
ginia from just after the first battle of Manassas, took 
part in the severe skirmish on the Williamsburg road 
preceding the Seven Days’ battles, fought through that 
campaign, and at Boonsboro, Sharpsburg and Fredericks¬ 
burg. He was then appointed adjutant of the Thirty-first 
regiment, which changed his field of duty to South Caro¬ 
lina. He took part in the famous defense of Charleston, 
including the defense of Battery Wagner and the battle 
on James island, was in the fight at Fort McAllister, near 
Savannah, and was then ordered back to Virginia, where 
he fought at Second Cold Harbor and received a severe 
wound that disabled him for several months. After his 
recovery he took part in the battle of Bentonville, and 
finally surrendered May 1, 1865, at Bush Hill, near High 
Point. With the exception of five years’ residence at 
Charlotte, following 1865, he has been a resident of New 
Bern since the close of the war, and has met with marked 
business success as a cotton broker. He has served as 
chairman of the board of education of Craven county four 
years, and has been a frequent participant in the various 
local and State conventions of his party. Captain Bryan 
has four children living: Florence, wife of James W. 
Waters, Edward K. Jr., William P. M., and Mary C., 
wife of C. S. Hollister. His brother, William G. Bryan, 
Jr., was orderly-serge ant in the Second regiment, and 
received wounds at Fredericksburg which caused his 
death a month later. 

Major James A. Bryan, president of the National 
bank of New Bern since 1888, was born in the city 
of New Bern in September, 1839. He graduated at 
Princeton college, N. J., in June, i860, after which, 
returning to his native city, he entered upon the study 
of the law. Upon the breaking out of hostilities, a 
few months later, between the North and the South, he 
became a member of a local company of cavalry, known 


408 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


as the Neuse cavalry, and in April, 1861, was commis¬ 
sioned by Governor Ellis second lieutenant of artillery in 
the State service of North Carolina, and assigned to duty 
with Col. John D. Whitford, chief of ordnance at New 
Bern, N. C. Upon the transfer of the State forces to 
the Confederate government in August of the same year, 
he was commissioned second lieutenant of artillery in the 
Confederate army by President Davis, and assigned to 
duty at New Bern as ordnance officer of the district 
of Pamlico and placed upon the staff of Gen. L. O’B. 
Branch, as ordnance officer of his brigade, with whose 
command, after the fall of New Bern, in March, 1862, 
he joined the army of Northern Virginia, and on July 1, 
1862, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant of artil¬ 
lery. Acting as aide-de-camp to General Branch he took 
part in the battle of Hanover Court House, the battles 
before Richmond, Second Manassas, Cedar Run, Ox Hill, 
Harper’s Ferry and Sharpsburg, in which latter battle 
General Branch was killed. Upon the death of General 
Branch, Gen. James B. Lane succeeded to the command 
of the brigade, upon whose staff he served through the 
battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House. On Sep¬ 
tember 20, 1864, he was commissioned captain, under act 
No. 155, for military service with volunteers, but shortly 
before the surrender he resigned this rank and was com¬ 
missioned by Governor Vance major and chief quarter¬ 
master of the State of North Carolina. After the decision 
of the Federal authorities not to parole Governor Vance 
and his staff, upon the advice of the governor he took a 
parole as captain C. S. A. While at Greensboro, before 
the arrival of the Federal troops, General Johnston turned 
over to him, as representative of the State, all the artil¬ 
lery, horses, mules, wagons and stores of his army, which, 
with the exception of the artillery, by the direction of 
Governor Vance, he distributed among the farmers. He 
was twice promoted for gallantry on the field, the second 
time, when advanced from first lieutenant to captain, the 
examination which officers of the ordnance corps were 
usually required to pass before obtaining promotion, was 
waived as a special distinction in his favor. After the 
close of the war he was engaged in the lumber business, 
and afterward in farming in Craven county until elected 
to his present position. He has had an honorable official 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


409 


career for twenty-two years, as a member of the board of 
commissioners of his county, being for twenty years of 
the time chairman of the board. 

John Ruffin Buchanan was born May io, 1830, in Gran¬ 
ville county, N. C.; enlisted May 12, 1862, as a private in 
Company A, Forty-fourth regiment, North Carolina 
troops; was promoted sergeant in 1863, served in Petti¬ 
grew’s brigade in eastern North Carolina and engaged in 
several skirmishes around New Bern, Washington and 
other places. The Forty-fourth regiment was transferred 
to Virginia in the fall of 1862 and served around Rich¬ 
mond until June, 1863. When General Lee started on 
the Gettysburg campaign, the Forty-fourth was detached 
at Hanover Junction to guard bridges on the South 
Anna and protect the supplies at Hanover Court House. 
On June 26, 1863, Company A, sixty-two men, and fifteen 
men from Captain Bingham’s company, under command 
of Col. T. L. Hargrove, were stationed at the bridge of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio railroad over the South Anna river, 
when they were attacked by General Speer, with 
between 1,200 and 1,500 cavalry. Then occurred one of 
the most stubborn fights of the war, when this handful of 
Carolina soldiers held their ground for more than three 
hours, and would never have yielded, but General Speer 
divided his forces and made a detour to the right and 
crossed the river and attacked them in the rear. Just 
as the column dismounted to make the charge, Sergeant 
Buchanan shot one of the commanding officers off his 
horse. The Yankees then charged and a hand-to-hand 
fight ensued around a little cabin, on the porch of which 
Colonel Hargrove was standing, fighting with several 
Yankees at one time. One gigantic trooper, with drawn 
sword, was rushing on him when Joe Cash, a mere boy 
sixteen years old, pierced him with his bayonet, and as 
he fell another trooper shot Joe, and he fell across the 
man he had just killed. Before he fell a Yankee called 
on him to surrender, and though he saw they were over¬ 
whelmed by numbers, he replied, “I’ll never do it, till my 
colonel tells me,’’ and fought on until he was killed. By 
this time the Yankees had surrounded the handful of 
Confederates and Sergeant Buchanan was shot through 
the breast just, over the heart. The fight continued 
hand to hand until the Yankees were afraid to fire their 


410 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


carbines for fear of killing their own men, and resorted 
to their pistols and clubbed carbines, and forced the Con¬ 
federates down by sheer weight of numbers. Nearly 
every man on the Confederate side was either killed or 
wounded, while they inflicted as great or greater loss on 
the enemy. When the fight was over the Yankees gath¬ 
ered up their own dead and wounded and such of the 
North Carolinians as could be moved, and started on their 
retreat. They put Sergeant Buchanan and such others 
as they considered mortally wounded in a negro cabin 
near by and left them there to die. The next day all 
except Sergeant Buchanan were moved to Richmond, 
and he was left to die, but a noble lady, Mrs. Rosa Winston, 
living in the vicinity, had him removed to the hospital 
at South Anna male academy, where, under the skillful 
ministration of Drs. Meredith and McKinne, he was 
nursed back to life and enabled to go home, v/here he 
remained in a disabled condition for several months. 
Upon his return to the regiment he was detailed for light 
duty at Lynchburg, but after several months’ service his 
suffering was such that he was furloughed for six months, 
and before the expiration of his furlough the Confederacy 
had ended. Mr. Buchanan is a highly-respected citizen 
of Granville county, superintendent of the home for the 
aged and infirm, and a member of Maurice Thomas 
Smith camp, U. C. V. In 1854 he married Miss Nancy 
A. Pittard, by whom he has five children living, Luther 
T., a successful teacher, William R., Robert Hill, James 
P. and Mrs. Bettie F. Knott. 

Captain Benjamin Hickman Bunn, of Rocky Mount, a 
well-known lawyer and public man, was born in Nash 
county, N. C., October 19, 1844, the son of Redman and 
Mary Hickman (Bryan) Bunn. His father was a grand¬ 
son of Benjamin Bunn, who removed from Virginia to 
North Carolina soon after the revolutionary war. At the 
age of seventeen years, July 20, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company I, Thirtieth North Carolina infantry, and was 
at once appointed orderly-sergeant. In September, 1862, 
he was elected junior second lieutenant of Company A, 
Forty-seventh infantry, and was subsequently promoted 
to second and then to first lieutenant. Eighteen months 
prior to the close of the struggle he was put in command 
of the Fourth company of sharpshooters of General Mac- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


411 


Rae’s brigade, a service in which he was distinguished 
both for personal valor and efficiency as an officer. He 
took part in the battle at Gettysburg during the three 
days’ fighting, and was slightly wounded; was in the 
Bristoe Station campaign, and at the Wilderness opened 
the fighting on the plank road with his sharpshooters. 
For fourteen nights during the campaign which followed, 
including the Spottsylvania battles, he commanded the 
guard. At Second Cold Harbor, and the fighting about 
Richmond, including the battle of Reams’ Station, he 
and his company were in the thick of the fray. Finally, 
in the engagement at Burgess’ Mill, March 25, 1865, he 
received a severe wound which compelled him to go to 
hospital at Richmond. When advised that Petersburg 
was evacuated he rose from his bed, walked to Danville, 
and reached home on the day of Lee’s surrender. A 
few months later he began the reading of law at Golds¬ 
boro, and being admitted to practice in 1866, embarked 
in the profession at Rocky Mount. He has gained wide 
fame as a jurist, also as a State and national legislator; 
was a member of the constitutional convention of 1875, 
served in the general assembly as chairman of the joint 
committee on the code, was an elector on the Democratic 
presidential ticket of 1884, and in 1888 was elected to the 
United States Congress, where his services gave such sat¬ 
isfaction that he was re-elected in 1890 and 1892. In the 
Fifty-second and Fifty-third congresses he was chairman 
of the committe on claims. In 1871 he was married to 
Harriet A., daughter of Dr. James J. Phillips, to whom 
have been born nine children. Two brothers of the 
foregoing served in the Confederate armies: William H., 
the eldest, a graduate of the university of North Caro¬ 
lina, who left the practice of law at Wilson to enlist, 
became captain of a company of cavalry, and was killed 
at Burgess’ Mill, October 27, 1864; and Elias, who left the 
university to become adjutant of the Twelfth regiment, 
and was killed at Hanover Court House, May 27, 1862. 

Thomas O. Bunting, deputy United States marshal of 
the eastern district of North Carolina, is a native of 
Sampson county, born in 1845. He received his youthful 
education at the famous school of Dr. Wilson in Ala¬ 
mance county. In May, 1861, though only about sixteen 
years of age, he enlisted in the Twentieth North Carolina 


412 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


infantry, but in July following withdrew and entered the 
university of North Carolina, where he studied one year. 
Returning to the Confederate service he became a private 
in Company C of the Sixty-third regiment, of Fifth cav¬ 
alry, and shared the subsequent gallant career of this 
command, taking part in the engagements at White Hall 
and Goldsboro, N. C., in 1862, and then, in Virginia, 
under the leadership of Baker, Gordon, Barringer, Hamp¬ 
ton and Stuart, meeting the enemy on many a glorious 
field. In the long list of battles in which he participated 
are the names of Brandy Station, Upperville, Gettys¬ 
burg, Hagerstown, Jack’s Shop, the Buckland races, 
Mine Run, Spottsylvania Court House, Trevilian Sta¬ 
tion, Yellow Tavern, the Wilderness, Reams’ Station, 
Belfield, Five Forks, Chamberlain Run, and besides 
these were the daring achievement known as Hampton’s 
cattle raid and numerous minor encounters with the 
enemy. In the spring of 1865 he was sergeant of his 
company, now much reduced in numbers. On April 3d, 
at Namozine church, he was captured by the Federals, 
and being confined at Point Lookout was held there until 
June 28th. Throughout this gallant career he was once 
seriously wounded, receiving a shot through the ankle 
on the Ground Squirrel road near Petersburg, which 
disabled him for three months. When he returned to 
North Carolina he, like many other veterans, first made 
a crop, and then removed to Wilmington, where he has 
ever since resided. From 1883 to 1895 he was assistant 
tax collector for the city. He has also served twelve 
years as deputy United States marshal. In 1868 he was 
married to Louise Smith, of Smithville, who died in 1885, 
leaving five children: Thomas, William S., John H., 
Richard C. and Mildred Louise. 

John Henry Burgess, a prominent business man of 
Elizabeth City, had an adventurous career in the Con¬ 
federate service as a soldier and scout. Born at Eliza¬ 
beth City, February 27, 1843, he enlisted among the 
early volunteers, in May, 1861, as corporal of Company 
I, Seventeenth regiment, and was at a later date pro¬ 
moted to sergeant. He was among the troops stationed 
at Oregon inlet at the time of the first Federal invasion 
of the coast, and after the fall of Fort Hatteras, fell back 
to Roanoke island and was stationed at Fort Bartow. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 413 

Here they were attacked by the fleet and army of Burn¬ 
side’s expedition and compelled to surrender. Soon 
afterward he was paroled, but was not exchanged until 
the fall of 1862, when he went on duty at Weldon as 
provost guard and remained until the spring of 1863. 
Subsequently he joined the signal corps commanded by 
Maj. James F. Milligan, and was stationed on the lower 
James river, successively at Brandford, Brandon, Swan’s 
Point and Mount Pleasant, and at Fort Clifton on the 
Petersburg lines. His service on this line of signalmen 
was of great importance to the defense of Richmond and 
was frequently attended with danger. With eleven com¬ 
rades under the command of Sergeant Averett, he was 
engaged on scouting duty in the rear of Grant’s army 
during May, 1864, obtaining valuable information for 
General Lee. He was finally with the army on the 
retreat from Petersburg and was surrendered at Appo¬ 
mattox. Soon after the close of hostilities he embarked 
in the mercantile business, in which he is still engaged. 
By his marriage in 1866 to Martha R. Newbold, he has 
seven children living: Henrietta Louise, wife of C. R. 
Bell, of Baltimore; John Henry, Jr., and William Fred¬ 
erick Martin, both in business at Norfolk; Nancy New- 
bold, Creighton Newbold, Joseph Warren and Arthur 
Earl. 

Colonel Harry King Burgwyn, who succeeded Gov. 
Zebulon B. Vance in command of the Twenty-sixth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, was a native of North Caro¬ 
lina, born in affluence and of distinguished ancestry. 
Before he was of the proper age to become a cadet at West 
Point he was offered an appointment there, where he 
studied for some time; in 1859 was graduated at the uni¬ 
versity of North Carolina in special studies, and then 
matriculated at the Virginia military institute, where he 
remained until the beginning of the Confederate war. 
He shared the services of the cadets as drill-master at 
Richmond in the spring of 1861, and in June following 
was put in command of the camp of instruction at Crab 
Tree creek near Raleigh. Here he served with great 
efficiency until, on August 27th, he was elected lieuten¬ 
ant-colonel of the Twenty-sixth regiment. In his first 
battle he won the admiration and love of his men. On 
the retreat from New Bern in crossing Brice’s creek, he 


414 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


saw every man of his command safely across before he 
embarked; bore himself with conspicuous gallantry in 
the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, and upon the 
election of Colonel Vance as governor in August, 1862, 
was promoted colonel. During the campaign in 
North Carolina, at Rawles’ Mill, in Martin county, he 
met and defeated his old instructor at West Point, Gen¬ 
eral Foster. A bright military career appeared to be 
opening before the young soldier and patriot, then in his 
twenty-first year, when he joined the army of Northern 
Virginia, in Pettigrew’s brigade. He participated in the 
Pennsylvania campaign and led his regiment in the 
charge upon the enemy on the first day of the battle of 
Gettysburg. . They were met by a terrible fire, and the 
color-bearer fell, when Colonel Burgwyn seized the flag 
and rushed to the front cheering on his men. Turning 
slightly to the left to see how they were behaving, a 
ball entered his left side and passed through both his 
lungs. He fell with the colors wrapped about him, and 
with his last breath sent a message to his commander: 
“Tell the general my men never failed me at a single 
point.’’ He was laid to rest where he fell, but in 1867 
his body was reinterred in the beautiful Oakwood cem¬ 
etery at Raleigh. 

Charles Manly Busbee, of Raleigh, N. C., conspicuous 
in the affairs of his city and State, and widely known 
throughout the United States for his able services as the 
supreme officer of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
served faithfully in 1863-65 as one of the boy soldiers of 
the Confederacy. He was born at Raleigh, October 23, 
1845, son of Perrin Busbee, an able lawyer and popular 
leader in Wake county in his day, and grandson of Johnson 
Busbee, who for thirty years presided over the county 
court of Wake. He was in the midst of a course of study 
at Hampden-Sidney college, Virginia, when, in October, 
1863, he enlisted in the Fifth North Carolina infantry as 
a private, but was soon appointed sergeant-major, the 
capacity in which he subsequently served. During the 
retreat to Appomattox he was acting adjutant of his regi¬ 
ment. He participated in the battles of the army of 
Northern Virginia at Kelly’s ford, the Wilderness and 
Spottsylvania Court House until, on the morning of May 
12th, he shared the fate of many of Johnson’s brigade of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


415 


Rodes’ division in becoming a prisoner of war. He was 
confined at Fort Delaware until in August, 1864, when 
he had the misfortune to be one of the 600 Confederate 
officers who, in retaliation for the placing of Federal 
prisoners in Charleston, were stationed on Morris island, 
exposed to the fire of the contending forces and the more 
deadly unhealthiness of the situation. He was paroled 
at Fort Pulaski in the following December, and until he 
was exchanged in March, 1865, he acted as private sec¬ 
retary to Governor Vance. Then rejoining his regi¬ 
ment, at that time guarding the ferries of the Staunton 
river, Va., he had a week’s experience in the 
trenches before Petersburg, and finally participated in 
the fighting on the retreat to Appomattox, where he was 
surrendered. After the close of hostilities he studied a 
few months in the university of North Carolina, and then 
read law, gaining admission to the bar in 1867. He was 
reading clerk of the North Carolina senate in the winter 
of 1866-67, was elected county solicitor of Wake county in 
1867, was elected to the State senate in 1874, and was 
elected to the house in 1884, and in 1886 was appointed 
one of the three commissioners to refund the State debt 
connected with the construction bonds of the North Caro¬ 
lina railroad. From 1874 he was a prominent member of 
the sovereign grand lodge of Odd Fellows, and in 1890 
received the honor of election as grand sire of the order 
in America. Meanwhile he has gained distinction in his 
profession, and has given to its requirements the main 
part of his active career. He is now engaged in the active 
practice of his profession. 

Lieutenant Fabius H. Busbee, conspicuous in the legal 
profession of the North Carolina capital, was born at 
Raleigh, March 4, 1848. Though but thirteen years of 
age at the beginning of the great struggle which drew so 
heavily upon the youth of the State, it was his privilege 
before the close of the war to share the military service 
of his Confederate comrades and engage in one of the 
famous battles of that heroic era. In February, 1865, he 
enlisted as a private in the Third regiment, Junior 
reserves, also known as the Seventy-first North Carolina 
infantry, and a few days later was promoted second lieu¬ 
tenant of Company E. He served in this rank until the 
close of hostilities, and was under fire at Southwest 


416 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


creek, near Kinston, and in the battle of Bentonville, 
where the Junior reserves formed part of the gallant 
command of General Hoke. At the end of this service 
Lieutenant Busbee returned to Raleigh, and in 1868 was 
graduated at the State university. He was admitted to 
the practice of law in January, 1869, and at once em¬ 
barked in the work of the profession in which he has 
made an honorable and successful career. 

Edward Gale Butler, of Raleigh, bursar of the Agri¬ 
cultural and Mechanical college of North Carolina and 
assistant instructor in English, had a gallant career as a 
soldier of the Twelfth regiment of infantry. He is a 
native of Virginia, born at Norfolk, February 26, 1841, 
but was reared at Granville, N. C., from the age of two 
years. He entered the service with a company organized 
there by Capt. Henry E. Coleman, which became Com¬ 
pany B of the Twelfth regiment. With this command 
he served in Virginia from May, 1861, with Garland’s 
brigade, fought through the sanguinary Seven Days’ 
campaign, and was captured at Malvern hill. He was 
held as a prisoner at Fort Delaware five weeks and then 
exchanged. For this experience he was revenged in full 
measure. During the retreat from Gettysburg he took 
prisoner a captain and two other men from an Illinois 
regiment; and on the night before the evacuation of 
Petersburg, with three or four men he recaptured Fort 
Mahone, taking prisoner 95 Federals, including four com¬ 
missioned officers, whom he turned over to the proper 
authorities and received a receipt therefor. At Sailor’s 
creek Sergeant Butler was again captured, and was held 
at Johnson’s island until the following June. Return¬ 
ing to Granville, now Vance county, he followed farming 
and teaching school until August, 1897, when he accepted 
his present position. 

John Gray Bynum, a prominent attorney residing at 
Greensboro, N. C., formerly judge of the Tenth judicial 
district of North Carolina, was born at Gilbert Town, in 
Rutherford county, N. C., February 15, 1846, which was 
Fergusson’s headquarters two nights before the battle 
of King’s Mountain. At the age of seventeen years 
Judge Bynum entered the Confederate service as a pri¬ 
vate in Company I of the Seventh regiment, North Caro- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


417 


lina troops, enlisting in June, 1863, from Yadkin county, 
where he lived at that time. He was with his regiment 
in the fall campaign which followed the battle of Gettys¬ 
burg, was in battle at Bristoe Station, and at Mine Run 
was on exhausting duty and under fire for about three 
weeks. The exposure to the inclement weather during 
this service brought on pneumonia, and he was sent 
home. He was examined and declared unfit for service, 
but he nevertheless became a member of the Junior 
reserves, and going to Camp Vance, was appointed adju¬ 
tant of the First battalion of this organization. Going 
with his command to Wrightsville, his poor condition for 
service on the line caused his appointment as purser’s 
clerk on the blockade-runner Advance. He welcomed 
the adventurous career which this appointment opened, 
but he was destined not long to enjoy it, for the vessel 
was captured in a trip from Wilmington to Nova Scotia, 
and he was taken to New York and thrown into Ludlow 
street jail. When his health was utterly broken by this 
confinement and his weight was reduced to sixty-six 
pounds, he was turned out into the streets of New York. 
He at once found passage to Halifax as a stowaway on 
the Cunard liner Asia, and then shipped back to Wil¬ 
mington through the blockade, arriving just before the 
fall of Fort Fisher. Reaching home again, he took to his 
bed and was not able to leave it for eight months. After 
his recovery the Confederate States had passed into his¬ 
tory, and he turned his attention to a civil career, taking 
up the study of law. Being admitted to the bar he 
practiced at Morgantown until 1889, also taking an active 
part in political affairs and serving from 1878 to 1880 in 
the State senate, and in 1882 as clerk of the special com¬ 
mittee of the United States Senate which investigated the 
internal revenue matters of the district. In 1885 he was 
appointed judge of the superior court of the Tenth dis¬ 
trict to fill an unexpired term, and in 1890 was elected 
for a full term, serving until 1895. He then removed to 
Greensboro, becoming a member of the law firm of 
Bynum, Bynum & Taylor. 

Lieutenant William Calder, a prominent business man 
of Wilmington, was born at that city, May 5, 1844, of an 
old Carolina family, his great-great-grandfather having 
served as sergeant-major in the war of the revolution. 


418 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


In 1859 he entered the military academy at Hillsboro, 
and left there in May, 1861, having been appointed drill- 
master by Governor Ellis, and assigned to the camp of 
instruction at Raleigh. Upon the organization of the 
first ten regiments of State troops he was commissioned 
junior second lieutenant of the Third regiment. In this 
rank he served as drill-master at Garysburg about four 
months, then being transferred to the Second regiment 
of infantry as second lieutenant of Company K. With 
this command he participated in the Seven Days’ cam¬ 
paign about Richmond, and at Malvern hill was wounded 
in the left thigh, causing his disability until after the 
battle of Sharpsburg. He was in battle at Fredericks¬ 
burg, Chancellorsville, and most of the engagements of 
Jackson’s and Ewell’s corps, and during the three days’ 
fighting at Gettysburg was in command of the sharp¬ 
shooters of Ramseur’s brigade. On the return to Orange 
Court House he was appointed adjutant of the First 
North Carolina battalion, heavy artillery, and subse¬ 
quently was on duty with this command at Fort Caswell, 
until that post was evacuated; was in battle at Fort 
Anderson, Town Creek and Kinston, and at the battle of 
Bentonville served as acting assistant adjutant-general 
on the staff of Colonel Nethercutt, commanding the bri¬ 
gade of Junior reserves. From that time until the end 
of hostilities he was with his artillery battalion in out¬ 
post duty on upper Cape Fear river. Then, returning to 
Wilmington, he began his civil career in the service of 
the Wilmington & Manchester railroad; was four or five 
years connected with the newspapers Dispatch and Star, 
and later as bookkeeper entered upon a commercial 
career. In 1873 he became a partner in the wholesale 
house of Kerchner & Calder Brothers, since 1886 known 
as Calder Brothers. He has been enterprising and active 
as a citizen as well as in the line of business, and ren¬ 
dered valuable service from 1881 to 1897 as a member of 
the board of audit and finance of the municipal govern¬ 
ment. In 1872 he was married to Alice L., daughter of 
Dr. John H. Boatright, of Columbia, S. C., and they 
have four children: Mary F., Milton, Robert E. and 
Hugh C. A brother of the foregoing, Robert Edward 
Calder, served in the Second North Carolina infantry 
until his left eye was destroyed by a wound at Mal¬ 
vern hill. He afterward became professor in the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


419 


Hillsboro military academy until the close of the war, 
subsequently going into business with his brother. He 
died in 1888, leaving two children: Phila L., wife of 
Joseph K. Nye, of New Bedford, Mass., and Edwin Keith 
Calder. 

W. H. Call, of Washington, N. C., since the war 
mainly engaged as a minister of the Methodist church, is 
a native of Davy county, born at Mocksville in 1842. He 
was educated at the university of North Carolina, where 
he left his studies in June, 1862, to enlist in the Confed¬ 
erate service. He became a private in the Seventh Con¬ 
federate cavalry, composed of North Carolinians and 
Georgians. In the latter part of 1864 the North Carolini¬ 
ans in this command were transferred to the Sixteenth 
North Carolina battalion, and Mr. Call, who had up to 
this time served as orderly-sergeant, was appointed 
ordnance-sergeant. During his service he participated 
in the engagements at White Oak road, Va., Burgess’ 
Mill, Five Forks, Port Walthall Junction, Suffolk, 
Reams’ Station, and in the trenches at Petersburg. 
After the close of hostilities he returned to his studies at 
Chapel Hill, and upon completing his education, entered 
the ministry of the Methodist church as a member of the 
North Carolina conference. He was actively devoted to 
this calling, residing at various stations until 1884, when 
he made his home permanently at Washington. Mr. 
Call was married in 1871 to Maggie, daughter of John 
A. Arthur, late of Washington. 

Lieutenant Francis Hawkes Cameron, of Raleigh, was 
born at Hillsboro, June 1, 1839. In 1855 he entered the 
United States service, and was stationed at Brooklyn, 
N. Y., in the coast survey when Fort Sumter was bom¬ 
barded. Declining a commission in the Federal army 
he ran the blockade and landed at Savannah, reported 
at Montgomery, Ala., and was commissioned a lieuten¬ 
ant in the regular army of the Confederate States. He 
served under General Bragg at Pensacola, and while 
there took part in the perilous duty of blockading the 
channel under the guns of the Federal forts. Compelled 
to return home in June by violent illness, he subse¬ 
quently was on duty with Commodore Tattnall on the 
South Carolina and Georgia coast, serving on the Hun- 

Nc 50 


420 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


tress, the flagship Savannah and the Fingal, as lieuten¬ 
ant of marines, and fighting in the battle of Port Royal 
and other engagements. Early in 1862 his command, 
First battalion of marines, was ordered to Virginia, 
where he took part in the repulse of the Federal fleet at 
Drewry’s bluff, and was in the Seven Days’ campaign. 
He was commissioned first lieutenant of marines in the 
winter of 1862-63, and remaining on the James river took 
a conspicuous part in the defeat of Butler at Drewry’s 
bluff in 1864, commanding the left wing of the Confed¬ 
erate skirmish line. He was in command of Camp Beale 
for several months, fought in the rear guard during the 
retreat of 1865, escaped the disaster at Sailor’s creek, 
and was in battle on the last day at Appomattox. 
Since the close of his Confederate service he has been 
prominently connected with insurance business in North 
Carolina. He has also taken a patriotic interest in the 
organization of the military of the State, serving in 
1877-78 as captain of Company A, First regiment State 
guards; from 1879 to 1891 as inspector-general with the 
rank of colonel, and from 1893 to 1897 as adjutant-general 
of the State, with the rank of brigadier-general. Colonel 
Cameron is a descendant of Rev. John Cameron, who 
came to Virginia from Scotland after the battle of Culloden 
and settled near Petersburg. His son, William Cam¬ 
eron, grandfather of Colonel Cameron, made his home in 
Orange county, N. C., about 1825. 

Colonel John Lucas Cantwell, of Wilmington, a vet¬ 
eran of two wars, was born at Charleston, S. C., Decem¬ 
ber 29, 1828. From 1844 he resided at Columbia, S. C., 
until the beginning of the Mexican war, when he enlisted 
as a private in the Richland Rifle Guards, Capt. William 
D. DeSaussure, which became Company H of the Pal¬ 
metto regiment, Col. Pierce M. Butler. Mustered in at 
Charleston, December, 1846, he served in Mexico with 
General Scott, participating in the siege of Vera Cruz 
and the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del 
Re3^, Chapultepec, and other engagements, until dis¬ 
charged at the City of Mexico on account of disabilities 
due to three wounds received at Churubusco. He left 
the Mexican capital in the same wagon-train with Gen¬ 
erals Quitman and Shields, November 1, 1847, and re¬ 
turned to his parental home at Charleston. He now 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


421 


receives a pension as a Mexican veteran from the United 
States government. Subsequently he was at New 
Orleans three years, and in 1851 made his home at Wil¬ 
mington, where in 1853 he was one of the founders of 
the Wilmington light infantry, organized in January of 
that year. He served as first sergeant, lieutenant, and 
captain, and in April, 1855, was elected colonel of the 
Thirtieth militia regiment. At the outbreak of the Con¬ 
federate war he was also clerk of the United States court 
for the Cape Fear district, and a magistrate for the county. 
In April, 1861, as commander of the only organized regi¬ 
ment in the State, he was ordered to take possession of 
Forts Caswell and Johnson, and in the performance of 
that duty he selected the following companies for his 
command: The Wilmington light infantry, Capt. W. L. 
DeRosset; the German volunteers, Capt. C. Cornehlson; 
the Rifle Guards, Capt. Oliver Pendleton Meares, and 
Capt. John J. Hedrick’s company, the Cape Fear artil¬ 
lery, under Lieut. James M. Stevenson. The Cape Fear 
Riflemen, Capt. M. M. Hankins, was left in Wilmington. 
Colonel Cantwell seized the forts April 16th, and re¬ 
mained in command at Fort Caswell until July, after 
which he served with his former Company, then Company 
G, Eighteenth regiment, at Coosawhatchie, S. C.; with 
the Seventh regiment at New Bern; raised and com¬ 
manded the Railroad Bridge Guard, which was on duty 
from Roanoke river, Va., to Livingston creek, near the 
South Carolina line; was colonel of the Fifty-first regi¬ 
ment about one year, and in November, 1863, joined the 
army of Northern Virginia as captain of the Cape Fear 
Riflemen, Company F, Third North Carolina regiment. 
With this command he participated in the fighting of 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House until 
captured with Johnson’s division, May 12, 1864. He 
was confined at Fort Delaware until August 20, 
1864, and then was one of the 600 Confederate officers 
placed under fire on Morris island and starved at Fort 
Pulaski. Returned to Fort Delaware in March, he 
was held there until May 27, 1865. He was one 
of the original members of the association of officers 
of the Third regiment, afterward the Third North 
Carolina infantry association, organized February, 1866, 
which is claimed to be the first organization of Southern 
veterans. 


422 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Captain Thomas Capehart, now a prominent citizen of 
Kittrell, is one of the survivors of the First or Bethel 
regiment. He was born at Murfreesboro, N. C., August 
27, 1840, and was reared there until seven years of age, 
when upon the death of his parents he made his home 
with an uncle in Bertie county. He was educated at 
Raleigh, at the Wilson school in Alamance county, and 
at Chapel Hill, where he was a student in the spring of 
1861. Leaving his studies, however, in that stirring 
epoch, he enlisted as a private in a volunteer company 
known first as the Dixie Rebels, and later as Company 
M, First North Carolina volunteers. He was soon pro¬ 
moted to corporal, then to sergeant, and finally to lieuten¬ 
ant two weeks before the battle of Big Bethel, in which 
the regiment was distinguished. After the disbandment 
of the First he returned home and organized a company 
for light artillery service, for which he furnished part of 
the uniforms, and the churches contributed their bells for 
cannon. The company was attached to the Third battal¬ 
ion of artillery, commanded by John Wheeler Moore, but 
was disbanded four or five months later for want of equip¬ 
ment. After this Captain Capehart was out of the service 
until November, 1864, when he was appointed by Gov¬ 
ernor Vance captain of cavalry in the State troops, the 
capacity in which he served until the close of hostilities. 
With the return of peace he engaged in farming, and 
since making his home at Kittrell, in 1867, he has also 
conducted a mercantile business there. He is now one 
of the leading business men of his town and section. By 
his marriage, in 1862, to Amelia Tucker, of Northampton 
county, he has eight children living: Emily Southall, 
Lucy Goode, Kate Tucker, Thomas Tucker, Cullen, 
Junius Long, Anthony Ashburn, Joseph Tudor and 
Tucker Stanley. 

James Carmichael, rector of St. John’s Episcopal 
church, Wilmington, was devoted to the Confederate 
cause during the great struggle, in which others of his 
family also participated. His father, Dr. George F. Car¬ 
michael, born at Fredericksburg, Va., in 1807, was in 
charge of a portion of the hospitals at Danville; his 
brother, Spotswood W. Carmichael, was on hospital duty 
at Newnan, Ga., Lynchburg and Chapin’s Bluff, Va. ; 
and another brother, Charles Carter Carmichael, served 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


423 


as a lieutenant in the Thirtieth Virginia regiment through¬ 
out the war, participating in the famous Confederate 
charge on Cemetery hill at Gettysburg. James Carmi¬ 
chael was born at Fredericksburg in 1835, and was edu¬ 
cated at Concord academy, Hanover academy and the 
university of Virginia, after which he entered upon the 
study of law with Judge W. S. Barton, of Fredericks¬ 
burg, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. Then deter¬ 
mining to devote his life to the Christian ministry, he 
began a course of study at the Alexandria theological 
seminary, from which he was compelled to retire by the 
advance of the invading armies in 1861. In May of that 
year he was commissioned chaplain of the Thirtieth 
Virginia infantry, and he was with this command in the 
field of duty until the spring of 1862, when he was disa¬ 
bled by lung trouble and was sent on furlough to Greens¬ 
boro, N. C. There he remained unfit for duty until 
November following, when, at the request of Dr. James 
L. Cabell, post surgeon at Danville, he was assigned as 
post chaplain at the latter place. In this capacity he 
served until July 3, 1865. Subsequently Dr. Carmichael 
was in charge of St. James’ church, near Louisville, Ky., 
until the fall of 1868, then at Grace church, Memphis, 
until 1878. After a briefer service at Port Deposit, Md., 
he assumed his present duties at Wilmington in 1883. 
Dr. Carmichael is chaplain of Cape Fear camp of Wil¬ 
mington, and was recently made an honorary member of 
Camp 171, Confederate veterans, of Washington, D. C. 

• 

Samuel Carmon, a popular railroad man of Wilming¬ 
ton, is a survivor of a patriotic North Carolina family, for 
two generations connected with the soldierly career of 
the Fayetteville light infantry. His father, Joshua Car¬ 
mon, a native of Fayetteville, served with this command 
in the war of 1812, and in civil life was noted for his 
faithful service during fifty years as bookkeeper of the 
Bank of Cape Fear, at his native city. An older son of 
the latter, Joshua Carmon, Jr., served in the Mexican 
war, and as a private in General Lane’s brigade in the 
Confederate war, was badly wounded at the battle of 
New Bern, and has since died. Samuel Carmon, born at > 
Fayetteville in 1841, and there reared and educated, went 
on duty for the State as a private in the Fayetteville 
light infantry in April, 1861, and with the Bethel regi- 


424 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


ment, of which his command was Company H, served in 
the famous first encounter at Big Bethel on the Virginia 
peninsula. When the Bethel regiment was disbanded he 
re-enlisted in Company E, Fifty-sixth regiment, and 
served as a sergeant until the four years’ struggle came 
to an end. He was one of the valorous fighters who 
achieved the capture of Plymouth, and was also in battle 
at Little Washington, Kinston and Gum Swamp, N. C.; 
fought under Beauregard at Bermuda Hundred and in 
defense of Petersburg, and in the breastworks around 
Richmond; at the battle of the Crater, at Jerusalem 
plank road, at the lead works toward Weldon, and 
shared the suffering and fighting of the army of Northern 
Virginia until just before the evacuation of Petersburg, 
when he was permitted to go home on a furlough. He 
was wounded at Plymouth and again slightly at Gum 
Swamp. Since the war he has resided at Wilmington, 
and has had an honorable career in the railroad service, 
now holding the position of a conductor on the Atlantic 
coast line. 

Julian Shakespeare Carr, of Durham, N. C., a gallant 
soldier of the Confederacy, and now one of the most 
prominent business men of the South, was born October 
12, 1845, at Chapel Hill. His father, John Wesley Carr, 
a prosperous business man of that town, is well remem¬ 
bered by many prominent people of the South who were 
students at the North Carolina university during the 
period of his commercial career. John Wesley Carr 
married Eliza Pannel Bullock, a member of the well- 
known Bullock family of Greenville county. Her broth¬ 
er, Col. Robert Bullock, formerly represented a Florida 
district in the United States Congress. Of the children 
of this marriage, besides Julian Carr, there are living, 
Dr. Albert Gallatin Carr, of Durham, N. C.; Robert 
Emmett Carr, associate editor of the Durham Globe; 
Mary Ella, wife of William A. Guthrie, of Durham; 
Lizzie, wife of Rev. J. T. Harris, of Durham; and Emma, 
wife of Prof. J. F. Heitman of Trinity college. Julian 
S. Carr was reared in the quiet village of Chapel Hill 
under the influence of pious and exemplary Methodist 
parents, and received his education amid the favorable 
facilities of his native place until the outbreak of the war. 
Though under sixteen years of age when his State 



ar s*a b 




ami 


























1 


















































CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


425 


seceded, he became at a later date a member of a cav¬ 
alry company, which was assigned to the Third North 
Carolina cavalry regiment, of Barringer’s brigade. With 
this gallant command he did service in Virginia, particu¬ 
larly amid the active and desperate campaigns of 1864-65, 
and won the esteem of his comrades by manly and sol¬ 
dierly behavior. Since the close of hostilities he has 
been a warm and patriotic friend of the Confederate 
soldier, and the regard which his comrades have for him 
is evidenced by his long tenure of the office of president 
of the North Carolina Veterans association. No man like¬ 
wise is more patriotic and loyal to the union of the States. 
It is due to his patriotic impulse and generosity that the 
coat-of-arms of North Carolina now appears among those 
of the other thirteen original States in the old Independ¬ 
ence hall at Philadelphia. Observing the omission of 
the insignia of his State, while on a visit to that historic 
spot, he promptly secured the permission of the gov¬ 
ernor, and at his own expense placed the shield of North 
Carolina in its appropriate place. In November, 1886, 
he served as chief marshal at the Fayetteville centennial 
celebration by the State of North Carolina of the adoption 
of the Constitution of the United States, and the success 
of that event was largely due to his efforts, assisted by 
a corps of aides selected by him from the ablest and most 
prominent citizens of the State. After the close of the 
war Mr. Carr attended the university at Chapel Hill for 
a short time, then became a partner of his father in 
business, and three years later removed to Little Rock, 
Ark., returning in 1870 to North Carolina and becoming 
interested in the manufacture of tobacco, in which his 
career has been pre-eminently successful. He purchased 
a one-third interest in the manufacturing business of 
W. T. Blackwell & Co., the firm then being com¬ 
posed of W. T. Blackwell and J. R. Day, at Durham. 
The business of this famous house had then just begun to 
grow, and its progress has continued from that day until 
the Blackwell Durham corporation, as now organized, 
has a capital stock of $4,000,000, on which it pays good 
semi-annual dividends. While taking a leading part in 
the development of this great business, Mr. Carr has also 
been active in other lines, and the extent of his business 
enterprises can best be briefly described by reference to 
the following list of corporations and companies with 


426 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


which he has been connected: He is president of Black¬ 
well’s Durham tobacco company; First national bank 
of Durham; Commonwealth Cotton manufacturing com¬ 
pany, Durham; Golden Belt manufacturing company, 
Durham; Jule Carr home loan fund, Durham; Durham 
electric lighting company; North Carolina bessemer 
company, McDowell county; Atlantic hotel company, 
Morehead City; vice-president Lynchburg & Durham 
railroad company; Durham cotton manufacturing com¬ 
pany; Durham Bull fertilizer company, Durham; North 
Carolina steel and iron company, Greensboro; Kerr bag 
machine company, Concord; Durham & Clarksville rail¬ 
road; the executive committee of the National tobacco 
association of the United States. This represents but one 
side of his character. He is not only one of the wealthiest 
men in the State, but is one of the most influential, hon¬ 
ored and loved; generous to all worthy enterprises, and 
a popular leader among public-spirited men. He is not 
only a liberal promoter of industrial enterprises, but a 
strong supporter of religious, educational and charitable 
institutions. He has been the patron of many a poor and 
struggling man; has given home and assistance to the 
maimed and Confederate soldier; has rendered substan¬ 
tial aid to the university, Wake Forest college, Trinity 
college, and other institutions of learning, and in many 
ways has made his great wealth minister to the good of 
humanity. He is a member of the board of trustees of 
the Methodist female seminary at Durham; of the 
Greensboro female college association; trustee of the 
university of North Carolina, of Trinity college, and of 
the Davenport female college; Kittrell’s normal school; 
the American university at Washington, and the Oxford 
orphan asylum. In political affairs Mr. Carr has not 
sought office, but has taken the part of a public-spirited 
man desirous to do his patriotic duty. He has twice 
represented the State in national convention of the Dem¬ 
ocratic party, and was one of the committee to frame the 
platform upon which Mr. Cleveland was elected in 1884. 
He is a member of the association of Young Men’s Dem¬ 
ocratic clubs, and the State Democratic committee. He 
has also served on the governor’s staff as paymaster- 
general with the rank of colonel. At the age of twenty- 
five years Mr. Carr was married to Nannie G., youngest 
daughter of Col. D. C. Parrish, of Durham. They have 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


427 


five children living, two daughters, Alida and Lallah, 
and three sons, Julian, Marvin and Claiborne. His family- 
residence at Durham is one of the handsomest in the 
State, and his home life is one of ideal happiness. 

Captain Obed William Carr, of Greensboro, a veteran 
of the Forty-sixth regiment, was born in Duplin county, 
March 12, 1833. He was graduated at Trinity college in 
1859, and remained at that institution as a tutor until 
March, 1862, when he entered the Confederate service 
as captain of a company which he had organized, and 
which was assigned to the Forty-sixth regiment as Com¬ 
pany G. From the camp of instruction at Goldsboro the 
regiment was ordered to Virginia, arriving at Richmond 
just after the battle of Seven Pines. It was on duty at 
Drewry’s bluff, and during the Seven Days’ battles was 
on the extreme right of the Confederate line, next the 
river, at Malvern hill. Remaining at Drewry’s bluff 
until the Maryland campaign, he took part in the capture 
of 13,000 Federal soldiers at Harper’s Ferry, supporting 
a battery stationed on Loudoun heights, and was in the 
heat of the fight at Sharpsburg, coming out of battle 
with all his officers disabled and only sixteen men left 
on duty out of forty-eight. His health failed after this 
campaign, and in October he was granted a leave of 
absence. Rejoining his regiment, January 1st, at Peters¬ 
burg, he was on duty in North Carolina during the spring, 
participating in skirmishes at Gum Swamp and else¬ 
where ; was stationed at Richmond during the Pennsyl¬ 
vania campaign, and served in the army of Northern 
Virginia until he was compelled to resign by failing 
health in December, 1863. Captain Carr then engaged 
in teaching until the close of hostilities, with the excep¬ 
tion of two weeks’ service at Kinston in the fall of 1864. 
From 1866 to 1878 he was a member of the faculty of 
Trinity college; subsequently he has been engaged in the 
insurance business at Greensboro. He was State senator 
for the Twenty-fifth district, embracing the counties of 
Moore and Randolph, in 1881, and was for several years 
secretary and treasurer of the chamber of commerce at 
Greensboro, N. C. He is at present on the board of direc¬ 
tors of the Greensboro female college association, trustee 
of Trinity college, Durham, N. C., and president of the 
Randleman manufacturing company at Randleman, N. C. 


428 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major Daniel T. Carraway, for many years a well- 
known business man of New Bern, was born in Craven 
county in 1833, of an old North Carolina family. His 
maternal grandfather, Zadok Parris, was a soldier of the 
revolution. Mr. Carraway rendered valuable and faith¬ 
ful service throughout the four years of war which at¬ 
tended the career of the Southern Confederacy, in the 
commissary department. The work of a commissary 
officer of the Confederate army was attended by many 
embarrassments and difficulties, but it is greatly to his 
credit that notwithstanding all these he made a record of 
which he may well be proud, and ministered efficiently 
to the maintenance of the armies in the field. In April, 
1861, he was appointed commissary of subsistence for 
State troops and stationed at New Bern, and acted in 
this capacity until November, when the Confederate 
States government took charge. In January, 1862, he 
was appointed brigade commissary with the rank of 
major, for the brigade of General Branch, and just after 
the Seven Days’ campaign was detailed as commissary for 
Gen. A. P. Hill’s division of the army of Northern Vir¬ 
ginia. With the exception of a period, December, 1862, 
to June, 1863, when he was commissary for the brigade, 
then under General Lane, he continued to discharge the 
duties of division commissary, under General Pender and 
General Wilcox successively, until the surrender of the 
army at Appomattox, when he was present. Returning 
to North Carolina he found his family at Graham, and 
soon went into business at Raleigh, and a few months 
later at Wilmington, but after September, 1866, was a 
resident and influential citizen of New Bern, and held for 
some years prior to his death the position of superintend¬ 
ent of the cotton and grain exchange. He died at his 
residence in the city of New Bern, November 26, 1898, 
in the sixty-sixth year of his age. 

Owen Judson Carroll, a well-known citizen of the State 
capital, appointed in 1894 United States marshal for the 
eastern district of North Carolina, was born in Duplin 
county in 1845, the grandson of John Carroll, of Mary¬ 
land, who served in the continental army. He entered 
the Confederate service May 1, 1862, as a private in Com¬ 
pany B, Tenth regiment, heavy artillery, and was en¬ 
rolled with this command until April, 1864, when he was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


429 


transferred to Company D, Southerland’s battery, light 
artillery. During the entire years 1863-64 he was detailed 
for dutyin the provost marshal’s office at Wilmington, 
acting as clerk for the court-martials of the army. Going 
into active service in January, 1865, he took part in the 
famous defense of Fort Fisher, and in March served with 
the artillery in the battles of Kinston and Bentonville. 
He was paroled with the army at Greensboro in May, 
1865, and then returned to his home in Duplin county, 
whence he went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and completed 
a business education, remaining for some time afterward 
as an instructor in the Eastman college. Returning to 
Duplin county in 1868 he married Mary A., daughter of 
Jesse B. Southerland, and in January, 1869, opened an 
academy at Magnolia, which he conducted until 1871. 
He was subsequently engaged in mercantile pursuits, 
traveling throughout the South for wholesale houses, and 
making his home at New York from 1885 until 1893, 
when he removed to Raleigh. In January, 1894, he was 
appointed to the office of United States marshal. 

Edward W. Carson, a veteran of the Forty-ninth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, was born in Gaston county 
in 1838, son of Andrew Carson, who died in 1847. He 
was reared and educated in his native county, and in the 
spring of 1862 enlisted as a private in Company H of the 
Forty-ninth regiment, which was organized with Ste¬ 
phen D. Ramseur as colonel early in that year. With 
this famous regiment, drilled by Ramseur and inspired 
by his heroic spirit, Carson served as private and corporal 
until the end of the war. In Robert Ransom’s brigade 
he fought in the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, 
going into the Malvern Hill fight between sundown and 
dark, and remaining on the ground until near noon the 
following day; and in the Maryland campaign, partici¬ 
pating in the capture of Harper’s Ferry and fighting at 
Sharpsburg, where his regiment made a gallant charge 
upon the enemy and did great execution in the Federal 
ranks. Here he was hit by a spent ball and disabled for 
a few days, and subsequently was furloughed for sixty 
days on account of poor health. Fie rejoined his regi¬ 
ment at Wilmington, N. C., and took part in numerous 
skirmishes along the line of the Weldon railroad. He 
was then on duty near Richmond; in January, 1864, took 


430 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


part in the New Bern expedition and the defeat of the 
enemy at Batchelder’s creek; in March participated in 
the attack on Suffolk, and in May fought under Beaure¬ 
gard in the defense of Petersburg. From this time he 
remained on the Petersburg lines, was stationed to the 
left of the Crater, and participated in the capture of Fort 
Steadman in March, 1865. On the retreat from this 
battle he carried back Lieutenant Rankin, who had been 
severely wounded and who soon afterward died in hos¬ 
pital. At Five Forks he was in the thick of the fight and 
narrowly escaped capture. After his parole at Appomat¬ 
tox he returned to his native county, penniless but with 
a brave heart, and ever since has been engaged in farm¬ 
ing, now being one of the most prosperous farmers of his 
county. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and 
has been a ruling elder in the same for a number of years. 

Lieutenant Benjamin H. Cathey, of Bryson City, was 
born in Jackson coiinty, N. C., January 4, 1836. During 
the crisis of 1860-61 he was a supporter of the old Union 
until his State decided to ally herself with the Confeder¬ 
ate States, when he was among the first to enlist for the 
war which followed, going out in May, 1861, with the 
first company from his native county, to enter upon a 
career of four years’ uninterrupted service. He was pro¬ 
moted to the rank of first lieutenant and was distin¬ 
guished for coolness and bravery in battle. In the cam¬ 
paigns of the army of Northern Virginia he served under 
Generals Pender and A. P. Hill for two years, from 
Seven Pines to Shepherdstown, and then under Johnston 
and Hood was identified with the army of Tennessee. 
At Chickamauga he seized the flag after the color-bearer 
had been shot down, and cheered his men forward in a 
desperate charge in the face of a terrible fire from the 
enemy. After the close of the war, returning to North 
Carolina, he refused to take the oath of allegiance until 
his State was relieved from the incubus of foreign ad¬ 
venturers, and was restored to self-government. This 
accomplished, he at once devoted himself with entire 
loyalty to the best interests of the reunited Union. He 
is an active member of the United Confederate Veterans, 
has served as adjutant of the camp at Bryson, and is now 
aide-de-camp to General DeRosset, with the rank of 
major. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


431 


John L. Cathey, a veteran of the Sixtieth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, now clerk of the superior court of 
Buncombe county, was born in Macon county in 1832. 
His parents, Thomas and Mary Ann (Ingram) Cathey, 
were of North Carolina nativity, his mother being a 
granddaughter of Solomon Ingram, who moved from 
Ashe county to Cherokee before the Indians were re¬ 
moved. His family made their home in Cherokee 
county when he was a child, and thence removed to 
Beaver Dam creek and later to Haywood county. In * 
April, 1862, he left the farm and its peaceful duties to 
enlist in the cause of the Confederacy, becoming a mem¬ 
ber of a company of the Sixth battalion, and marching 
to Greenville, Tenn., where he was mustered in as a pri¬ 
vate in Company I of the Sixtieth regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina State troops. He fought in the battle of Murfrees¬ 
boro; under Gen. Joe Johnston marched to the relief of 
Vicksburg; after the fall of that post joined in the gal¬ 
lant stand made at Jackson against the victorious hosts 
of the United States army, and then, returning to Chat¬ 
tanooga, took part in the bloody battle of Chickamauga, 
where his valor won for him a place on the official roll of 
honor. But for this distinguished honor he paid, as sol¬ 
diers do, with blood. In the fight of Sunday, September 
20th, he was severely wounded in the right leg, and on 
the next day, while lying in a thicket, on the field, his 
leg was amputated. Thus maimed he was carried to 
Ringgold, and thence to Coweta county, Ga., where he 
was in hospital until December 20, 1863. A few days 
later he reached home, where for a long time his wound 
disabled. him, and afterward in his crippled condition the 
struggle for existence was beset with much discourage¬ 
ment. By shoemaking, and finally, with the aid of his 
eldest son, by farming, he maintained himself and family, 
and in 1890 removed to Asheville, where he has twice 
been elected to the office of clerk of the superior court. 
He has taken an active part in political affairs in the 
Democratic party, and was one of the organizers of the 
Vance camp, Confederate veterans. By his first mar¬ 
riage, in 1856, to Louisa L. Hyatt, a native of Missouri, 
who died in 1878, he has eight children. His second 
wife, Barbara Elizabeth Luthen, to whom he was mar¬ 
ried in 1890, died in 1897. 


432 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


James Nettleton Caudle, prominent as a business man 
at Randleman, Randolph county, was born in Orange 
county, N. C., February 7, 1833. Since 1849 he has 
made his home at Randleman, and there was a member 
of the company of the State militia for five years prior to 
the war, holding the rank of first lieutenant. He entered 
the regular service in North Carolina in the fall of 1863, 
and took part in the defense of the State during the inva¬ 
sion by Sherman’s army, acting as a courier under Gen¬ 
eral Johnston. Since the close of hostilities he has been 
engaged for the greater part of the time in agricultural 
pursuits, but for three years past has been a merchant 
at Randleman. For thirty years he has served his com¬ 
munity as magistrate. 

Isham Johnson Cheatham, of Franklinton, who served 
the Confederate States as a member of the Forty-fourth 
regiment, North Carolina State troops, was born in 
Granville county, January 22, 1830. He was educated 
at Henderson, and then became engaged in business at 
Townsville, whence he was called by the Southern war 
for independence. In the spring of 1862 he volunteered 
as a private in Company A, of the Forty-fourth regi¬ 
ment, and was soon promoted to the rank of quarter¬ 
master-sergeant. In this office he served the regiment 
until the end of the war, performing the important duties 
of his position with intelligent devotion to the wel¬ 
fare of his comrades. He was in battle with his regiment 
at the South Anna bridge, at Mine Run and Bristoe 
Station, at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court 
House, and in all the battles around Richmond, after 
the Confederate capital was beleaguered by the United 
States army under Grant. After the surrender at Appo¬ 
mattox he returned to Townsville, and for a few years 
was occupied in farming. Since 1868 he has been 
engaged in railroad work, first as station agent at Little¬ 
ton for eighteen months, and then as agent at Frank¬ 
linton. In 1858 he was married to Mary Eliza Hunt, of 
Townsville, and they have eight children living: Fannie 
B., Richard I., Sue A., Kate W., Edwin J., Jane R., 
Mattie G., and James B. The eldest son, Richard I., is 
assistant general freight agent at Atlanta, for the Sea¬ 
board Air Line railroad, and the other two sons are also 
in railroad service. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


433 


Colonel William H. Cheek, who made a splendid record 
as colonel of the First North Carolina cavalry, and who 
for gallantry was recommended by General Lee for pro¬ 
motion to the rank of brigadier-general, was born in 
Warren county, N. C., March 18, 1835. After graduat¬ 
ing at Randolph-Macon college, in 1854, he studied law 
under William Eaton, Jr., of Warrenton and was admit¬ 
ted to the bar in June, 1856. In the following August he 
was elected commonwealth’s attorney, which position he 
held until he was elected in i860 to the legislature of 
North Carolina. When it became evident, in 1861, that 
the country was drifting into war, he resigned his seat 
in the legislature in order to raise a company for the 
defense of his native State. He had had some experi¬ 
ence in military affairs, having been orderly-sergeant of 
the Warren Horse Guards, a company organized in the 
spring of 1859. In April, 1861, the Horse Guards were 
ordered to take possession of Fort Macon, but that 
important post had been occupied by the State troops 
before the arrival of that company, which accordingly 
returned home. The legislature, of which Mr. Cheek 
was a member, having passed a bill to raise ten regi¬ 
ments of State troops to serve during the war, he re¬ 
cruited Company E, First North Carolina cavalry. His 
commission as captain of that company was dated May 
16, 1861. Robert Ransom, afterward brigadier-general, 
was the first colonel of this regiment, which was in 1862 
assigned to Hampton’s brigade, and on the promotion of 
that officer to Baker’s, Gordon’s and Barringer’s bri¬ 
gades successively, being in the last-named brigade at 
the time of the surrender at Appomattox. Captain 
Cheek participated in more than 150 cavalry combats, the 
most important being the cavalry engagements of the 
Maryland campaign, Brandy Station, the Gettysburg 
campaign, Williamsport, Spottsylvania Court House, 
Chamberlain Run and Five Forks. In September, 1863, 
he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and one month 
later, upon the death of Colonel Ruffin, he was promoted 
to colonel. In 1864, during the Kilpatrick and Dahlgren 
raid, when near Lee’s Station the Federals broke 
through the lines and Richmond was in great danger, 
Colonel Cheek, under instructions of General Hampton, 
with about 100 men attacked a brigade of the enemy at 
2 o’clock in the morning. The Federals were stampeded 


434 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and scattered, thinking that the whole Confederate cav¬ 
alry was upon them. After the fight at Chamberlain 
Run, March 31, 1865, General Lee recommended that 
Colonel Cheek be commissioned brigadier-general for 
gallantry. As the surrender occurred a few days later, 
there was not time for this recommendation to be atced 
upon. At Five Forks, April 1st, he had a thrilling 
experience. Falling into the hands of two Federal sol¬ 
diers, he shot one and escaped from the other. On the 
morning of April 6th, General Lee sent him with a bugler 
and orderly to find a certain regiment. While on this 
errand they met three Federal scouts wearing Confeder¬ 
ate uniforms. Being thrown off their guard, they were 
captured and carried as prisoners to General Sheridan’s 
headquarters. One of Colonel Cheek’s captors was a 
Major Young. After he had been feasted at Sheridan’s 
headquarters by some of the prominent Union officers, 
Major Young told him that one of his men would mail a 
letter for him to his wife. The letter was written and 
mailed according to promise, reaching its destination in 
due time. Colonel Cheek was sent to the Old Capitol 
prison in Washington, were he was at the time of the 
assassination of Lincoln. The arrival of a Federal regi¬ 
ment, sent for their protection, saved them from being 
put to death by an angry mob. He was next sent to 
Johnson’s island, where he was held until August, 1865. 
At that time he was released and allowed to return home. 
He at once took charge of his father’s plantation, then 
went to Norfolk, Va., and engaged in the commission 
business. In 1882 he moved to Henderson, N. C., where 
he has since been engaged in the practice of law. He 
was married in 1864 to Miss Alice M. Jones, of Warren 
county, Va. They have six children. 

Colonel Daniel Harvey Christie, the circumstances of 
whose death inspired the well-known poem, “The Dying 
Soldier,” was born in Frederick county, Va., March 28, 
1833, the only son of Robert W. and Sarah Christie. In 
youth he displayed great talent as a singer and teacher 
of music. Removing to southeastern Virginia, he was 
married, in 1855, to Lizzie A. Norfleet, and went into busi¬ 
ness at Norfolk, but lost all in the commercial disasters 
of 1857. He then removed to Henderson, N. C., and 
established the Henderson military institute, which he 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


435 


conducted with much success until the separation of his 
adopted State from the Union, when he tendered his 
services to North Carolina. He assisted materially in 
the organization of troops, and in July was elected major 
of the Thirteenth, afterward the Twenty-third regiment. 
A few days after the battle of Williamsburg he was 
elected colonel. He commanded his regiment in the 
battle of Seven Pines, and was severely wounded in this 
fight, where his regiment was left in command of a lieu¬ 
tenant on account of the casualties among the officers. 
At Mechanicsville he was again in battle, and at Cold 
Harbor was a second time wounded, and disabled for two 
months. At South mountain, September 14th, he and 
his regiment were distinguished in the heroic check of 
McClellan’s army, and at Sharpsburg he fought through¬ 
out the day. Subsequently he commanded the brigade 
for a time. At Chancellorsville he was commended for 
gallantry and recommended for promotion to brigadier- 
general. At Gettysburg his brigade was sacrificed in the 
bloody fight of the first day, and in the midst of the car¬ 
nage Colonel Christie was conspicuous for the coolness 
with which he exposed himself, encouraging his men to 
stand fast. Only one lieutenant and sixteen privates of 
the Twenty-third escaped death, wounds or capture in 
this fearful conflict, and the gallant colonel fell with a 
. mortal wound. He died at Winchester at the residence 
of a Mrs. Smith, who tenderly nursed him until the end 
came, July 17, 1863. Mrs. Christie, with her three chil¬ 
dren, was called to him by telegraph, but was unable to 
arrive until two days after his death. His last words 
inspired the pathetic poem beginning: “I am dying; is 
she coming? Throw the window open wide.” Mrs. 
Christie was a guest of honor at the laying of the corner¬ 
stone of the Confederate monument at Raleigh in 1894. 
One son is living, Harvey L. Christie, a lawyer of St. 
Louis, Mo. 

James Beverly Clifton, a prominent physician of Louis- 
burg, N. C., was distinguished during the Confederate 
war for the faithful and skillful manner in which he 
filled responsible positions in the medical department of 
the Southern army. He was born in Franklin county, 
April 27, 1836, was educated at the Louisburg academy 
and the university of Virginia, and was graduated in 
Nc 51 


436 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


medicine at the university of New York in 1857. When 
the war began he was engaged in the practice at Louis¬ 
burg, but he promptly entered the service as surgeon of 
the Fifteenth regiment. After about six months’ service 
with that command he was assigned to the hospital at 
Williamsburg, Va., subsequently was stationed at York- 
town, and then at Jamestown island, where he remained 
until the evacuation of the peninsula. During about a 
year following he was on duty at Richmond, until the 
spring of 1863, when he was assigned to Semmes’ Geor¬ 
gia brigade of Longstreet’s corps. From that time until 
the close of the war he was associated with Longstreet’s 
corps, attached to various brigades, and experienced the 
important and arduous service of that famous command. 
In the list of engagements in which he was on duty are 
the names of Gaines’ Mill, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, 
Chickamauga, Knoxville, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania 
Court House and Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864. Re¬ 
turning to Louisburg after the end of the war he resumed 
the practice of his profession, and has ever since contin¬ 
ued in it, adding to his repute as a physician and win¬ 
ning the love and esteem of the community. In Novem¬ 
ber, 1867, he married Ann R. Smith, of Granville county, 
who died in 1885. In June, 1890, he wedded Mrs. Lucy 
D. Clifton, sister of A. B. Andrews, of Raleigh. His 
children living are William Thomas, Mary Grey, Fan¬ 
nie Neal, Maurice Smith, Lucy Birdie and Kate Davis. 
The eldest son is engaged in business at Waco, Tex., and 
the eldest daughter is the wife of John W. King, a pros¬ 
perous merchant of Louisburg. 

John T. Clifton, since the war a leading citizen of 
Franklin county, was born in that county, December 9, 
1839, and was educated at Louisburg and Goldsboro. 
Preparing himself for the profession of pharmacy, he 
embarked in the drug business and was so occupied when 
the war broke out, but he answered the call of his State 
as a true and loyal citizen. In August, 1861, he became 
associated in an independent capacity with the Franklin 
Rifles, Company L of the Fifteenth regiment, State 
troops, of which his brother, Dr. J. B. Clifton, was sur¬ 
geon. He continued with this command until October, 
1862, in the meantime participating in the gallant fight 
of the Fifteenth at Dam No. 1 on the Virginia peninsula. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


437 


Finally returning home on account of poor health, he 
was unfit for duty for a considerable period. In Febru¬ 
ary, 1864, though still infirm in health, he enlisted as a 
private in Company A, Fifth North Carolina cavalry, 
with which he was in battle at Yellow Tavern, and in all 
the succeeding engagements of his regiment, except 
Reams’ Station, until he was captured, April 2, 1865, at 
Williams’ Station, on the Southside railroad. The Fed¬ 
eral troops then taking possession of Petersburg, he was 
taken as a prisoner to the fair-ground hospital and 
assigned to duty there as a hospital nurse for the Confed¬ 
erate wounded, until he was paroled June 20, 1865. Then 
returning to Louisburg, Mr. Clifton engaged in farming 
and milling, in which he has successfully continued until 
the present, also in merchandise until 1882. He began 
an official career of valuable public service in 1885, as a 
member of the State legislature, and was re-elected to 
that body in 1888. In the same year he served the 
unexpired term of his brother as county treasurer. In 
1896 he was elected register of deeds of the county. 

Thaddeus L. Clinton, of Gastonia, N. C., was born in 
York county, S. C., the son of Robert A. Clinton, a native 
of that State. His great-grandfather, Peter Clinton, was 
a captain in the patriot army of the revolution. He was 
a resident of Gaston county at the beginning of the Con¬ 
federate era, and in April, 1861, enlisted in the first com¬ 
pany from that county. At Garysburg, this was assigned 
to the Twenty-third North Carolina regiment as Com¬ 
pany H. He accompanied his regiment to Virginia, was 
in camp at Manassas Junction until the spring of 1862, 
and participated in the defense of Yorktown and the 
retreat to Richmond. He fought at Seven Pines, and 
in the Seven Days’ campaign under Robert E. Lee, 
during which he was under fire every day. He was an 
active participant in the battles of Mechanicsville and 
Malvern Hill. His brigade, commanded by Gen. Sam¬ 
uel Garland, in the division of D. H. Hill, was conspic¬ 
uous in the bloody struggle before Richmond and won 
new honors in the Maryland campaign, where Private 
Clinton was one of the little band of heroes who held 
South mountain against the army of McClellan and 
fought against enormous odds. At the December battle 
cf Fredericksburg his regiment was held in reserve, but 


438 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


at Chancellorsville, in the early May days of 1863, he was 
in the heat of battle and suffered a severe wound in the 
left leg, which necessitated its amputation on the field. 
Thus terribly crippled, he was carried to hospital at 
Richmond and subsequently was honorably discharged. 
During his service he gained promotion to the rank of 
corporal. After his return to North Carolina he worked 
as a shoemaker for ten or twelve years, afterward con¬ 
ducted a store until 1893, and is also a farmer. He was 
married in 1890 to Clarice I. Smith, and they have two 
children, Roland Smith and Foster S. G. Clinton. 

« 

Lieutenant William Henry Harrison Cobb, M. D., of 
Goldsboro, a veteran of the Confederate States service, 
was born in Wayne county in 1841, and prepared for col¬ 
lege at the famous Bingham’s school in Orange county. 
He was graduated in medicine at the university of Penn¬ 
sylvania, March 14, 1861, and then returning to his native 
State, enlisted for her defense, April 16th, as a private in 
the Goldsboro Rifles. After about a month’s service at 
Fort Macon he joined the Second regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina troops, Col. Charles C. Tew, and was at once ap¬ 
pointed sergeant-major. On October 14th following, 
he was commissioned second lieutenant of Company D, 
and on February 20, 1863, was transferred to the medical 
service, and commissioned assistant surgeon, provisional 
army, in which capacity he remained with his regiment 
until nearly the end of the struggle. About two weeks 
before the surrender he was transferred to the Twentieth 
regiment, Benning’s Georgia brigade, Longstreet’s 
corps, with which he was paroled at Appomattox. While 
an officer of the line he was under fire of gunboats on 
Potomac creek, and at Fort Fisher in 1862, and partici¬ 
pated in the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, and 
Fredericksburg. After the Seven Days’ battles he was 
detailed to care for the wounded at Richmond, and 
before he could return to the army was disabled for sev¬ 
eral weeks with typhoid fever. After his appointment as 
assistant surgeon he was under fire in the performance 
of his duties at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wil¬ 
derness, Spottsylvania, Second Cold Harbor, Winchester 
and Cedar Creek, on the Petersburg lines, and the retreat 
to Appomattox. Surgeon Cobb had three brothers 
equally devoted to the Southern cause, and their united 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


439 


record is one not often equaled in patriotic devotion and 
usefulness. John P., now living at Brooksville, Fla., 
was a gallant officer of the Second regiment, served as 
colonel during the last year of the war, and lost a leg at 
Winchester September 19, 1864; Rev. N. B. Cobb, now 
residing in Sampson county, was a chaplain and colpor¬ 
teur in the army of Northern Virginia, and Bryan W. 
Cobb, now residing in Pender county, held the rank of 
major in the Second regiment. Dr. W. H. H, Cobb is 
ex-president of the Medical society of the State of North 
Carolina, a member of the State board of medical 
examiners and State medical examiner for the Royal 
Arcanum. 

Captain Robert E. Cochrane, of Charlotte, a veteran of 
Barringer’s cavalry brigade, was bom in Cabarrus 
county, January 26, 1836, the son of Maj. Robert C. and 
Statira (McKinley) Cochrane. His father, of Scotch- 
Irish descent, was an officer of the State militia, and died 
in 1846, his wife preceding him by a year. Left an 
orphan at the age of ten years, young Cochrane was 
reared, according to the provisions of his father’s will, 
by Rev. John Hunter, and educated primarily in the 
school of the latter. In 1856 he was graduated at Ers- 
kine college, South Carolina, and in 1858 he made his 
home at Charlotte, where two years later he embarked in 
business as the proprietor of a hardware store. This he 
left early in 1862 and enlisted as a private in a cavalry 
company organized at Charlotte, of which he was 
appointed quartermaster-sergeant. When the company 
was assigned to the Fifth North Carolina cavalry he was 
appointed quartermaster of the regiment, with the rank 
of captain, the capacity in which he mainly served. But 
for a considerable time, toward the close of the war, he 
acted as quartermaster of Barringer’s cavalry brigade, 
composed of the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth 
regiments. He was with his regiment, faithful and 
efficient in service, throughout its gallant career and 
contributed to the high repute in which this famous body 
of North Carolina troopers was held. Since the war he 
has resided at Charlotte and given his attention chiefly 
to insurance. He is a member of the public school board, 
president of the Charlotte sash, door and blind manufactur¬ 
ing company, and secretary and treasurer of the Meehan- 


440 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ics’ perpetual building and loan company. He is a faith¬ 
ful comrade of Mecklenburg camp. Captain Cochrane 
was married in October, i860, to Susan Elizabeth Orr, 
and they have three children living. 

- Captain Kinchin Wesley Coghill, of Henderson, who 
was severely wounded at the battle of Sharpsburg while 
carrying the colors of the Twenty-third regiment, was 
born in Franklin county in 1837, the son of Capt. James 
O. Coghill. Three of his brothers were in Company G, 
of the Twenty-third regiment, Joseph W. and James 
Norfleet, who died of disease contracted in the first Ma¬ 
nassas campaign; and Jonathan F., who served in the 
corps of sharpshooters until the close of the war. Mr. 
Coghill entered the Confederate service as corporal of 
Company G, Capt. C. C. Blacknall, Twenty-third regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, Col. D. H. Christie, and 
with his command participated in the first battle of 
Manassas. Subsequently, in Garland’s brigade, he 
served at Yorktown, Williamsburg, the Seven Days’ 
battles before Richmond, Second Manassas, South 
Mountain and Sharpsburg. He was promoted to ser¬ 
geant at Richmond, and after the battle of Seven Pines 
served as color-bearer of his regiment. At Sharpsburg 
he was severely wounded, and after lying for some time 
in hospital was sent to his home for recovery. Though 
in a weak and enfeebled condition he rejoined his regi¬ 
ment in time to participate in the Gettysburg campaign. 
On the return of the army to Virginia he was appointed 
to a clerkship in the quartermaster’s department at Hen¬ 
derson, and while there he served for a time as captain of 
a company of disabled soldiers. He was finally paroled 
with Johnston’s army at Greensboro. Still maintaining 
his comradeship, he is a valued member of Wyatt camp! 
United Confederate Veterans. Since the war Captain 
Coghill has been engaged in contracting and building, 
and has erected a great part of the handsome residences 
and business houses of Henderson and Rocky Mount. 
He is also prominent in church work, and is the author 
of a Sunday-school record and class-book which is in 
extensive use. He was married in 1865 to Miss Fannie 
Lassiter, a daughter of Ridick and Lovier Lassiter. 
They have been blessed with nine children and twelve 
grandchildren. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


441 


D. K. Collins, of Bryson City, a veteran of Thomas’ 
legion, was born in Haywood county, N. C., in 1844, the 
son of Robert and Elizabeth (Beck) Collins. His father, 
though over military age, entered the Confederate serv¬ 
ice from Jackson county in 1863, in command of two 
companies of Cherokee Indians, but died after six 
months of patriotic duty. Mr. Collins was reared and 
educated in Jackson county, and enlisted in 1863 as 
a private in Company F, First regiment of Thomas’ 
legion, later known as the Sixty-fifth regiment North 
Carolina troops. With this command he served in south¬ 
west Virginia and in the Shenandoah valley under Gen¬ 
eral Early, and participated in sixteen battles, among 
them Winchester, Cedar Creek, Kernstown, Piedmont, 
Berryville and Snicker’s Gap. At Cedar Creek, fighting 
as a sharpshooter, he was upon the field after the retreat 
of the Confederate troops and was attacked by a Federal 
cavalryman. His last shot killed the latter’s horse and 
the two men then engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand 
struggle, which was finally ended by the arrival of an 
armed comrade of his antagonist, and Collins was forced 
to surrender. Three days later, at Winchester, he 
escaped during the confusion caused by a night attack of 
Mosby’s men. He was afterward captured near Ashe¬ 
ville, but easily made his escape. After the close of hos¬ 
tilities Mr. Collins attended school two years, was in Col¬ 
orado a year, and another year with Captain Conley in 
Alabama, and then embarked in business as a merchant 
at the site of the present town of Bryson City, becoming 
the pioneer business man of that thriving place in 1871. 
He has been very successful in this enterprise and is also 
one of the leading farmers of the county. By his mar¬ 
riage in 1867 to Mattie Frank of Macon county, who died 
in 1883, he has three children. In 1890 he was married 
to JMlen Sheffer, of Huntsville, Ala- 

Major George P. Collins, of Hillsboro, was born in New 
York, of North Carolina parentage, and was reared in 
Washington county. His father, Josiah Collins, was a 
native of Edenton and proprietor of a large plantation. 
The family in America is descended from Josiah Collins, 
of England, who came to America in 1773, established 
the first rope-walk in this country, and gained such dis¬ 
tinction as a patriot that he was offered the position of 


442 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


secretary of the treasury in the cabinet of President 
Washington. Major Collins was educated at Harvard 
college and the university of Virginia, and then took 
charge of his father’s plantation. During the early part 
of the war of the Confederacy he served as an officer of 
militia in the vicinity of Roanoke island. In the spring 
of 1862 he brought a body of twenty volunteers into the 
Confederate service and was assigned to Company G of 
the Seventeenth regiment, North Carolina troops, as 
second lieutenant. With this command he served at 
Drewry’s bluff, after the Seven Days’ campaign before 
Richmond, and continued in the rank of second lieuten¬ 
ant until after General Pettigrew, who had been wounded 
and captured at Seven Pines, returned to the service and 
assumed brigade command. He was then, in August, 
1862, assigned to duty on his staff as quartermaster, and 
three months later was promoted major, to date from 
his enlistment, and made chief quartermaster of the bri¬ 
gade. He continued to perform the duties of this posi¬ 
tion with great ability and fidelity until the close of the 
war, on the staff of Pettigrew and his successors, Gener¬ 
als Kirkland and McRae. After the close of hostilities 
Major Collins was engaged in the management of an 
extensive plantation in northwestern Mississippi, his 
family remaining part of each year at Hillsboro, where 
he was a frequent visitor and finally made his permanent 
home in 1883. By his marriage in i860 to Annie Cam¬ 
eron, he has seven children living: Annie, wife of W. L. 
Wall; Rebecca Anderson, wife of Frank Wood; George 
K., civil engineer; Henrietta Page, Mary Arthur, Alice 
Ruffin and Paul Cameron Collins. The father of Mrs. 
Collins was Paul Carrington Cameron, of Hillsboro, 
whose period of activity belonged to the ante-Confeder- 
ate era rather than to that epoch of stress and storm. 
He was born in 1808, son of Judge Duncan Cameron, and 
was a splendid representative of the Scotch families whose 
sturdy virtues have contributed so much to the position 
North Carolina now holds in the galaxy of States. He 
was educated at the military school of Captain Partridge, 
in Connecticut, the university of North Carolina, and 
Trinity college, Connecticut, being graduated at the 
latter in 1829; studied law and was admitted to the bar, 
but never practiced, instead devoting his great mental 
equipments to the study and elevation of agriculture. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


443 


He was president of the first agricultural society organ¬ 
ized in the State, and successfully conducted on his plan¬ 
tations the labor of nearly 2,000 slaves. An enthusiastic 
friend of the development of transportation and manu¬ 
facturing, he undertook a large contract in the building 
of the North Carolina railroad; served as director of 
other roads, and invested heavily in cotton manufactor¬ 
ies. In politics he was a Whig until secession and ever 
afterward a Democrat, but never accepted office except 
one term in the State senate. He is linked with the 
Confederate era by his service as successor of Colonel 
Fisher as president of the North Carolina railroad, and 
his revival for a time of the military school at Hillsboro, 
which Col. C. C. Tew abandoned to enter the army. As 
a friend of education he built enduring monuments as 
the firm friend of the St. Mary’s school for girls at 
Raleigh, which his father, Judge Duncan Cameron, 
founded, and the unfailing supporter of the State uni¬ 
versity in the darkest hours of its history. Of this insti¬ 
tution his grandfather, Richard Bennehan, was one of 
the founders; his father and uncle were trustees, and 
he was “a friend and counselor under Swain, a father 
and guide under Battle.” His name is particularly asso¬ 
ciated with that grand monument, the Memorial hall, 
upon the dedication of which he delivered the commence¬ 
ment oration in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His 
wife was Anne, daughter of Chief-Justice Thomas Ruffin. 
His death occurred January 6, 1891. 

Captain Robert T. Conley, a famous Confederate sol¬ 
dier of western North Carolina, up to sixteen years of 
age attended school in Haywood county, and at the 
beginning of hostilities volunteered as a private in the 
first military company which left his county. He was 
soon afterward elected first lieutenant, and in 1864 was 
promoted captain. He served in several campaigns and 
was mentioned for gallantry and efficiency in the general 
orders of his commanding officers; was with General 
Ransom in the East Tennessee campaign of 1863, with 
General Early in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 
1864 in command of sharpshooters, won distinction under 
the most unfavorable circumstances, and after the return 
of Thomas’ legion to western North Carolina in Novem¬ 
ber, 1864, took part in many skirmishes. On May 2, 1865, 


444 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


he led in what is believed to be the last fight with the 
Federal troops east of the Mississippi. The Federals under 
General Bartlett, disregarding the terms of the capitu¬ 
lation of Lee and Johnston, had plundered the people of 
the county, and under a pretended truce were continuing 
their pillage when Captain Conley, with 25 men, assailed 
a party of 200 or more of the marauders with such spirit 
that they were glad to arrange honorable terms of peace. 
This gallant soldier removed to Alabama not long after¬ 
ward, and carried on a successful business at Talladega 
until his death, December 18, 1892. His widow and 
six children survive. 

Captain Jonas Cook, of Mount Pleasant, a veteran of 
Clingman’s brigade, was born in Gaston count}^, February 
28, 1842, son of Matthew Cook and his wife, Mary M. 
Costner. His father emigrated to this country early in 
the 30’s from Baden, Germany, where the name was 
written Koch. He was educated in North Carolina col¬ 
lege at Mount Pleasant, and at the beginning of hostili¬ 
ties in 1861 was employed in the office of the clerk of the 
county court for the county of Cabarrus. This position 
he promptly resigned and took an active part in the 
organization of a volunteer company, the Cabarrus Pha¬ 
lanx, of which he was elected second lieutenant, although 
but nineteen years of age. The company was organized 
in August, 1861, enlisting for three years or the war, 
and became Company H of the Eighth regiment, North 
Carolina State troops. In February, 1863, he was pro¬ 
moted to first lieutenant, and in January, 1864, to captain 
of his company. His first service was on Roanoke island 
in 1861-62, chiefly on heavy artillery duty, and he was 
there surrendered after participating in the battle of 
February, 1862. In August following he was exchanged 
and then returned to the service. Among the important 
engagements in which he participated were the first bat¬ 
tle of Goldsboro, three encounters with the enemy during 
the siege of Charleston, S. C., the siege and capture of 
Plymouth, N. C., and the fighting about Drewry’s bluff, 
Va. At Plymouth, while his command was charging the 
Federal’s strongest works, a shell from the gunboats ex¬ 
ploded in the ranks of his company, killing and wounding 
18 men; Captain Cook was knocked insensible for awhile 
by a piece of the shell, receiving a severe contusion on 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


445 


left shoulder and side of his head and a wound in the ear. 
After his wound was dressed, he returned to his com¬ 
mand to join in the final assault and capture of the 
enemy. On two days of the fighting about Dre wry’s 
bluff he had command of the skirmish line in front of his 
regiment. He was wounded three times, by a piece of 
shell at Battery Wagner, in 1863; at Plymouth, as has 
been stated, and through the right arm in an heroic 
effort to dislodge the enemy and save the lives of his 
men at Bermuda Hundred. His service in the army 
finally ended at High Point, upon the surrender of Gen¬ 
eral Johnston. Since the war Captain Cook has been 
engaged in trade as a merchant, and has prospered in 
his business. He has served many years as postmaster, 
and for some time as chairman of the board of magis¬ 
trates. He served one term as commissioner for the 
county of Cabarrus. By his marriage, in 1868, to Mar¬ 
tha Regina, daughter of Col. John Shimpoch, he has 
eight children: Mary J. C., John M., Walter M., Lelia 
R., Winona, Anna M., Agnes W. and Carl M. 

Captain Charles Mather Cooke, of Louisburg, one of 
the prominent citizens of North Carolina, a successful 
lawyer and political leader, was born March 10, 1844, in 
Franklin county, the son of Capt. Jones Cooke and his 
wife Jane A. Kingsbury. His father was born in the 
same county in 1786, held important civil office, and won 
his military title in the war of 1812, adding to the excel¬ 
lent patriotic record of his family, which gave six soldiers 
to the continental army during the revolution. The 
mother of Mr. Cooke was the daughter of Darius Kings¬ 
bury and Esther Mather, the latter being a descendant of 
a brother of Cotton Mather, the distinguished Puritan 
divine of New England. Mr. Cooke was educated at 
Louisburg academy and Wake Forest college, but left 
the latter institution in the second year of his course to 
volunteer as a private in the Confederate army. In the 
winter of 1861 he was enrolled as a private in Company 
I of the Fifty-fifth regiment, North Carolina State 
troops, and soon afterward he was promoted to lieuten¬ 
ant. In this rank he fought in the engagements of the 
army of Northern Virginia, under the brigade command 
of Gen. Joseph R. Davis, and subsequently commanded 
his company, until June, 1864, when he became adjutant 


446 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of the regiment. In the latter capacity he served until 
the surrender at Appomattox. He was identified with 
the gallant record of his regiment throughout, and par¬ 
ticipated in some of the deadliest conflicts of the war. 
At Petersburg, March 31, 1865, he was shot in the leg 
and badly wounded, forcing him to the use of crutches 
during the following year. Being paroled at Richmond, 
after the surrender he returned to his father’s farm in 
Franklin county, where he soon entered upon the study 
of law, with the result that he was admitted to practice 
in 1867-68. In 1874 he was elected to the State senate; 
in 1877-78 held by appointment the office of solicitor 
of the Sixth judicial district; in 1878 was elected to the 
house of representatives, where he served as chairman 
of the judiciary committee, and upon re-election in 1880 
he became speaker of the house. From 1884 to 1888 he 
was a director of the State penitentiary but resigned to 
again accept a seat in the house, and served as chairman 
of the committee on internal improvements and on the 
railroad commission committee. In 1894 he received the 
Democratic nomination for representative of the Fourth 
congressional district, but was defeated by a combination 
of Republicans and Populists. Then, being appointed 
by Governor Carr to fill the unexpired term of Octavius 
Coke, deceased, as secretary of State, he held that office 
until January, 1897. He has also rendered valuable serv¬ 
ice as a trustee of the State university and of V/ake For¬ 
est college. In professional life, meanwhile, he has 
attained high rank as a lawyer. Throughout the State 
he is popular as an eloquent and convincing political 
speaker. In February, 1868, Mr. Cooke was married to 
Miss Bettie Person, and they have seven children living, 
Percival H., Charles M. Jr., Francis N., Frederick K., 
Wilbur C., Edwin W. and Lizzie K. The eldest son is 
practicing law at Louisburg, the second is superintendent 
of cotton mills at Bessemer City, and Francis is a cadet 
at West Point. 

Captain James Wallace Cooke, Confederate States 
navy, was born at Beaufort, N. C., August 13, 1812, the 
son of Thomas and Esther Cooke. His father, a mer¬ 
chant, was lost at sea in a hurricane, three years later, 
while on his return from a trip to New York, and in the 
following year the mother died, leaving two children, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


447 


James and Harriet, to be reared by their uncle, Col. 
Henry M. Cooke, first collector of customs of the port of 
Beaufort. At sixteen years of age young Cooke was 
appointed a midshipman in the United States navy, 
beginning his service on the training ship Guerriere 
April i, 1828. He was promoted to lieutenant February 
25, 1841, and served on the Macedonian, Constitution, 
Ontario, John Adams, Germantown and Decatur; at the 
naval observatory and in command of the Relief. While 
stationed at Norfolk he was married, July 5, 1848, to 
Mary E. A. Watts, of Portsmouth. One son was born to 
them, who died in 1882, leaving two sons now residing at 
Portsmouth. Lieutenant Cooke promptly resigned his 
commission when the war broke out, and was appointed 
lieutenant in the Virginia navy, and soon afterward 
transferred to the Confederate navy. His first duty was 
in connection with the fortification of the James, after 
which he was transferred to the Potomac. In the fall of 
1861 he was given command of the Ellis, a mail steam 
tug, with which he sailed to Roanoke island under Com¬ 
modore Lynch. He fought his boat in the battle of Feb¬ 
ruary 7th until his ammunition was exhausted, and in 
the subsequent desperate fight near Elizabeth City 
refused to surrender after his boat had been boarded and 
he had received a musket wound in the arm and bayonet 
thrust in the leg, the crew finally being taken by main 
force. After his exchange he was promoted commander 
and in 1863 was ordered to the Roanoke river to super¬ 
intend the construction of the ironclad Albemarle. In 
the spring of 1864 he was assigned the duty with this 
ram of clearing away the Federal vessels before Ply¬ 
mouth, in co-operation with the land attack under Gen¬ 
eral Hoke. Starting down the river before his boat was 
entirely completed, he was enabled by high water to run 
over the obstructions and torpedoes in the river. He 
passed the batteries without injury, encountered two Fed¬ 
eral steamers, the Miami and the Southfield, under Cap¬ 
tain Flusser, fought them at such close range that a shell 
with a 10-second fuse, fired by Captain Flusser, rebounded 
from the iron sides of the Albemarle and killed the gal¬ 
lant officer who pulled the lanyard, sunk one and drove 
the other down stream, and thus made it possible for 
the forces under General Hoke to assault and carry the 
Federal works. For this service Cooke and his men 


448 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


received the thanks of the Confederate Congress. On 
May 5, 1864, he left Roanoke river with the Albemarle 
and two tenders, and entered Albemarle sound, intend¬ 
ing if possible to regain control of the two sounds and 
Roanoke island and Hatteras. Soon after reaching the 
sound he was met by the Federal squadron, consisting 
of seven heavily-armed vessels, all under the command 
of Capt. Melancthon Smith. At 2 o’clock in the after¬ 
noon this squadron advanced in double line, and moving 
past in turn the gunboats delivered their heaviest shot 
at close range. The Albemarle responded effectively, 
but her boats were soon shot away, her smokestack rid¬ 
dled, and her after-gun broken off. This terrible contest 
of seven against one continued without intermission until 
5 o’clock, when the commander of the Sassacus conceived 
the idea of running down the ram, and struck her with a 
full head of steam abaft her starboard beam. The Albe¬ 
marle’s after-deck was forced several feet below the 
water, but the calm voice of her gallant commander was 
heard: “Stand to your guns, and if we must sink let us 
go down like brave men.” In retaliation Cooke sent a 
shot through one of the boilers of the Sassacus, badly 
scalding nineteen of her men. The conflict continued 
with unabated fury until night put an end to the battle. 
The smokestack of the Albemarle had lost its capacity, 
and the boat lay helpless until Cooke made use of the 
bacon and lard on board to get up steam, when he 
brought the ram back to Albemarle, having suffered lit¬ 
tle injury and inflicted heavy loss upon his assailants. 
He was promoted captain in July, 1864, and put in com¬ 
mand of all the naval forces in eastern North Carolina. 
After the close of hostilities he lived at Portsmouth until 
he passed away June 21, 1869. He was as bold and gal¬ 
lant a sailor as ever walked the quarter-deck. 

Captain John A. Cooper, president of the First national 
bank at Statesville, was born in Davidson county, N. C., 
in 1839, son of William W. Cooper. He entered the 
Confederate service in 1861 as a private in the Eleventh 
regiment, North Carolina volunteers, organized at Dan¬ 
ville, Va. He was made sergeant-major of the regiment 
at the organization, the rank in which he served during 
its period of enlistment. He participated in the battle 
of Blackburn’s Ford, July 18, 1861, under General Beau- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


449 


regard, and in the glorious victory of the 21st, and was 
subsequently stationed at Thoroughfare gap, and in win¬ 
ter quarters at Manassas Junction and on the Rappahan¬ 
nock. At the reorganization in the spring of 1862 the 
company with which he entered became Company B, of 
the First North Carolina battalion, of which he was 
elected first lieutenant, and soon after promoted to cap¬ 
tain. He marched with Ewell to reinforce Jackson in 
the Shenandoah valley, and shared the gallant record of 
Trimble’s brigade in the famous campaign which fol¬ 
lowed, participating in the battles of Front Royal, Win¬ 
chester, Cross Keys and Port Republic. Then being 
transferred rapidly to the left of Lee’s army before 
Richmond, he took part in the fighting of his brigade in 
the Seven Days’ campaign. With Jackson’s corps he 
was in the battle of Cedar Mountain, the raid to Manas¬ 
sas Junction, the battle of Second Manassas, the capture 
of Harper’s Ferry, and Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and 
Chancellorsville. During the Pennsylvania campaign, 
when Ewell’s corps reached Carlisle, Captain Cooper was 
appointed provost marshal at that place. After the bat¬ 
tle of Gettysburg and the retreat to Virginia he served in 
North Carolina, and was in command of a picked com¬ 
pany of 200 men in the gallant and victorious assault upon 
the Federal forts at Plymouth. After this he served as 
assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Major-General 
Hoke, the position which he occupied during the remain¬ 
der of the war, on duty at Petersburg and Drewry’s 
bluff, and in North Carolina again during the siege of 
Fort Fisher, and in the campaign against Sherman. He 
took part in the battle of Bentonville, and was surren¬ 
dered at Greensboro. During this conspicuous career he 
was wounded several times, but not seriously. Previous 
to the war Captain Cooper had been engaged in cotton 
manufacture, and on his return he became a partner of 
his brother as a merchant, and later rebuilt the cotton fac¬ 
tory that the Federal raiders had burned. In 1868 he 
retired from manufacturing, and after residing at the 
family homestead five years began a mercantile career 
which continued with much success until 1892. He then 
removed to Statesville and became president of the First 
national bank. Fie is also president of the Iredell 
tobacco company and a member of the grocery firm of 
Cooper & Gill. As a county official he has served 


450 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


eighteen years as commissioner of Wilkes county and for 
some time as chairman of the board of Iredell. By his 
marriage in 1868 to Julia Tomlin, he has two children, 
A. D. Cooper, and a daughter, Mattie. 

Captain James C. Cooper, Jr., a Confederate veteran 
of Henderson, N. C., was born in Granville county in 
1841, a son of Alexander Cooper. The latter, who was 
a son of James Cooper, a native of Scotland, was a pros¬ 
perous planter, and was in the Confederate service as a 
member of the Senior reserves. Captain Cooper was 
educated at the Hillsboro military academy, and in the 
spring of 1861 enlisted in the Granville Grays, which was 
assigned as Company I to the Second regiment, North 
Carolina troops. On May 5, 1861, he was transferred to 
the Eighth regiment and promoted to lieutenant. While 
a member of this command he was captured at Roanoke 
island and after a short imprisonment on board a Federal 
steamship was paroled, and in September, 1861, was 
exchanged. In December, 1862, he was commissioned 
as captain commissary of the Second North Carolina cav¬ 
alry, commanded by Col. Sol Williams, and he served 
with this regiment until after the Gettysburg campaign. 
Returning then to his lieutenancy in the Eighth regi¬ 
ment he was appointed, after the battle of Cold Harbor, 
assistant inspector-general of Clingman’s brigade, in 
which capacity he served until the close of the war. 
With the Second cavalry he was in battle at Brandy Sta¬ 
tion, Hanover, Carlisle and Gettysburg; in 1864 met the 
advancing army at Cold Harbor, and subsequently 
shared the services of Clingman’s brigade at Drewry’s 
bluff, Petersburg, Wilmington, Kinston and Bentonville, 
finally being paroled at High Point, N. C. After the 
conclusion of hostilities Captain Cooper was engaged 
in the cotton and commission business at New York 
city for twelve years or more, and then entered the to¬ 
bacco trade, first at Oxford, N. C., and since 1885 at 
Henderson. 

D. W. Corl, of Greensboro, was born in Rowan county 
January 6, 1837, and made his home at Greensboro prior 
to the war. He was in the service of the Confederacy 
from the first, but was not in the field during the early 
part of the war, being engaged in the very necessary 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


451 


duty of providing 1 arms for the soldiers. Having become 
an experienced and skillful mechanic, he was on detailed 
duty until the latter part of 1863 as a gunsmith in the 
Confederate armory, after which, desirous of meeting the 
enemy in battle, he became a member of the Rowan 
Rifles, Company K of the Fourth regiment, North 
Carolina troops. He was with his command in the fierce 
battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, and acquitted 
himself as a true soldier in that fiery trial. He was 
wounded at Spottsylvania in the foot, and was sent to 
hospital and upon his recovery was detailed by order of 
the secretary of war for duty in the arsenal at Salisbury, 
where he remained until the struggle came to an end. 
In the spring of 1866 he came to Greensboro, of which 
he has ever since been a resident, engaged in the 
peaceful work of his craft, and in the manufacture of 
carriages. 

Captain William C. Coughenour was born in Salisbury, 
N. C., in 1836, and there was raised and educated. He 
was a conductor on the Western North Carolina railroad 
when the war began. In April, 1861, he entered the 
service with the Rowan Rifle Guards, one of the old com¬ 
panies of which he had for some time been a member, 
and which became Company K, Fourth North Carolina 
infantry. He went in as a private and a month later, 
May 30, 1861, he was elected first lieutenant. On May 
31, 1862, he was made captain, and was appointed inspec¬ 
tor-general of Ramseur’s brigade in August, 1863. Early 
in February, 1865, he was transferred to Gen. W. P. Rob¬ 
erts’ cavalry brigade and served in this command until 
the close of the war. On April 4, 1865, a few days before 
the surrender, he was wounded at Amelia Court House, 
Va. Once before, during his long and faithful service, 
he had been slightly wounded. This was at Seven 
Pines, but the wound received there did not prevent his 
being in the next engagements of his command during 
the famous Seven Days before Richmond. The other 
battles in which he participated were Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsviile, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Gettysburg, 
and in Early’s Valley campaign of 1864, Harper’s Ferry, 
Jack’s Shop, Winchester, Fisher’s Hill and Cedar Creek, 
also in the last fights around Petersburg, Five Forks and 
Sailor’s Creek. After the war he returned home to enjoy 

Nc 52 


452 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the reward of a faithful soldier in the love and esteem of 
his countrymen. He has served two terms (four years) 
as mayor of Salisbury, one of the leading towns of his 
native State. 

Captain Pulaski Cowper, of Raleigh, was born in Hert¬ 
ford county, N. C., February 5, 1832. As a student of 
law he was associated with Hon. Thomas Bragg, of 
Jackson, and when Bragg was elected governor of the 
State in 1855, he accompanied him to Raleigh and served 
as private secretary during his two terms of office. Sub¬ 
sequently he was engaged in farming in Beaufort county 
until the summer of 1861, when he became private sec¬ 
retary to Gov. H. T. Clark, and when the latter was suc¬ 
ceeded by Governor Vance, Mr. Cowper entered the 
military service. Pie was detailed about four months on 
an army court, sitting at Richmond, and was then 
ordered to North Carolina to report upon the operation 
of the conscript law. He subsequently served as chief 
of a bureau at Raleigh, with the rank of first lieutenant, 
and was promoted to captain while on this duty. About 
two months before the close of the war he removed his 
bureau to Greensboro and there surrendered with Gen¬ 
eral Johnston. Since 1871 he has been prominently con¬ 
nected with the insurance business of the State. Cap¬ 
tain Cowper was married in 1857 to Mary B., daughter of 
Gen. Bryan Grimes, and they have four children living. 

Burton Craige, deceased, a statesman of the Confeder¬ 
ate era, was born in Rowan county, March 13, 1811, son 
of David Craige and Mary Foster, his wife. His grand¬ 
father, David Craige, was a lieutenant in the command 
of Col. William Temple Cole, in the war of the revolu¬ 
tion. His ancestors, adherents of Prince Charles in Scot¬ 
land, came to Rowan county after the battle of Culloden. 
Burton Craige was graduated at the university of North 
Carolina in 1829, and then edited the Western North 
Carolinian and read law until his admission to the bar in 
1832. At the same time he was first elected to the legis¬ 
lature. In 1836 he was married to Elizabeth Phifer, 
daughter of Col. James Erwin, and granddaughter of 
Gen. Matthew Locke, a member of the provincial con¬ 
gress of 1775, and of Col. Martin Phifer, of the Light 
Horse of the revolution. Soon after his marriage, being 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


453 


in feeble health, he visited Europe and was treated by 
the famous physician, Sir Astley Cooper. After his 
return he devoted himself to his profession and speedily 
won high honors and became widely known as a lawyer 
and as a leader in affairs of State. He was elected to 
Congress in. 1853, and was returned successively until the 
formation of the Confederate States. He then resigned 
his seat and cast his lot with the South. He represented 
Rowan county in the North Carolina convention of 1861, 
and on May 20th offered the ordinance of secession which 
was adopted. By the same convention he was elected a 
representative in the Congress of the Confederate States, 
and he continued to sit in that historic body until the 
collapse of the government. In this capacity he was a 
firm supporter of the administration of President Davis, 
of whom he was a warm personal friend. He was in 
politics a devoted disciple of the strictest school of State 
rights. His retirement from public affairs after the close 
of the war was not more thorough than was agreeable to 
him, and he buried his aspirations for public honors in 
the same grave which entombed the government which 
he had so enthusiastically and consistently supported. 
He did not complain because the government placed a 
solemn ban upon his citizenship, and kept it there almost 
until his death. He died December 30, 1875. 

Major James A. Craige, eldest son of the foregoing, 
was educated at the Charlotteville military institute and 
Davidson college, and was prepared for the United 
States military academy by Gen. D. H. Hill. He entered 
West Point in i860, but at the first call of the Confed¬ 
eracy resigned and made his way home. Reaching Salis¬ 
bury he was offered a captaincy in Colonel Fisher’s regi¬ 
ment, the Sixth, State troops, and he aided in drilling 
that regiment and others at Garysburg. He went to the 
front in time to participate in the engagements of Black¬ 
burn’s Ford and First Manassas. Subsequently he was 
commissioned major of the Fifty-seventh regiment, with 
which he served during the rest of the war. At the 
battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864, he was severely 
wounded, and was brought home by his father and Drs. 
Magill, of Hagerstown, Md., and Boyle, of Richmond. 
Under skillful care he recovered, and when Salisbury 
fell into the hands of Stoneman’s raiders, he mounted a 


454 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


horse, crutches in hand, and took part in the hopeless 
fight at the river bridge. Immediately afterward he set 
out with some friends for the Trans-Mississippi, but 
retraced his steps on hearing of Johnston’s surrender. 
After the war he returned to his father’s plantation to 
take charge of the negroes, who wanted to work under 
“Marse Jim,” and becoming fond of farm life he has 
ever since been engaged in planting. He is now a resi¬ 
dent of Maury county, Tenn. 

Captain Kerr Craige, second son of Burton Craige, 
was educated at Chapel Hill, but left the university when 
a boy of eighteen, and enlisted May 20, 1861, as a private 
in the First North Carolina cavalry. He was promoted 
to captain of Company I, was tendered the position of 
adjutant by Colonel Ruffin, just before the latter’s 
death, and served for some time as aide-de-camp on the 
staff of Gen. James B. Gordon, his brigade commander. 
After a gallant career he was captured at Namozine 
church, April 3, 1865, and subsequently held as a pris¬ 
oner at Johnson’s island until the following July. Then 
returning to Salisbury he read law, was admitted to the 
bar in 1867, and after his father’s death, succeeded him 
in the practice, at the same office. He has served as 
reading clerk of the North Carolina house of representa¬ 
tives and as member of that body; as collector of revenue 
for the Fifth district, as director of the North Carolina 
railroad, as trustee of the State university, and as third 
assistant postmaster-general during the second adminis¬ 
tration of President Cleveland. His wife is Josephine, 
daughter of Gen. L. O’B. Branch. 

Captain Frank B. Craige, youngest son of Burton 
Craige, was a student at the Hillsboro military institute 
when, at the age of sixteen years, he enlisted in Company 
I, Thirty-third regiment, State troops, under Col. Moul¬ 
ton Avery. He was elected lieutenant, and was promoted 
to captain. He went to the front in time to participate in 
the battle of the Wilderness, and in his first encounter 
with the enemy was hit by a bullet, knocked down and 
stunned, and was carried from the field as dead; but for¬ 
tunately the buckle of his belt kept him from serious 
injury, and he went through the hard service of his com¬ 
mand at Spottsylvania Court House and all the remainder 

l 


*»» ... 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


455 


of the struggle. He was captured in Battery Gregg, in 
April, 1865, and was sent to Washington, where among 
his fellow prisoners he recognized his brother Kerr. 
For fear of being separated they kept their relationship 
a secret, and they were both sent to Johnson’s island. 
After the close of hostilities he took charge of some plan¬ 
tations of his mother’s, in Tennessee, and has since then 
resided there, being married in 1875, to Fannie, daughter 
of Archibald Williams. 

John Samuel Cranor, of Wilkesboro, United States 
commissioner for the Western district of North Carolina 
by appointment of President Cleveland, in June, 1894, 
was one of the boy soldiers of the Confederacy. He was 
born April 26, 1847, at Rockford, Surry county, but 
from the age of ten years was reared at Wilkesboro. In 
1864, at the age of seventeen years, he enlisted in Com¬ 
pany B, intended to be assigned to the First battalion, 
North Carolina reserves, and was stationed at Camp Vance 
for instruction. Here he was captured by Col. George 
W. Kirk, of the United States army, and was conveyed 
as a prisoner of war to a prison camp at Chicago, where 
he was held for twelve months. When he and his com¬ 
rades were made prisoners several attempts were made 
by the Confederate troops to rescue them, but in vain. 
In one of these fights, the gallant Colonel Avery was 
killed. In his Northern prison camp young Cranor 
experienced many hardships and much brutal treatment, 
and witnessed the death of many gallant Confederates 
from exposure to the inclement climate. On being 
paroled, after the close of hostilities, he returned to 
Wilkesboro, and prepared for the profession of law, which 
he entered in 1868, with a license to practice from the 
supreme court . Since then he has been engaged in the 
practice, also serving in various official capacities. He 
held the office of register of deeds from 1884 to 1886, and 
in 1893-95 he served in the State senate, his popularity 
being attested by election with a majority of 745 in a 
district usually as strongly in opposition. 

Captain James R. Crawford, commander of Charles F. 
Fisher camp, United Confederate Veterans, at Salisbury, 
was born at that city March 12, 1836, son of William D. 
and Christine E. (Mull) Crawford, North Carolinians of 


456 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


Scotch descent. He left the farm in the spring of 1861 
as a private in the first company which left Rowan 
county, commanded by Capt. Francis M. W. McNeely, 
which was mustered in as Company K of the Fourth 
regiment, State troops, under Col. (afterward gen¬ 
eral) George B. Anderson. He was first on duty at Fort 
Caswell, and being detailed as sentinel his second night 
there, earned promotion to corporal by his vigilance. In 
June, 1862, he was commissioned second lieutenant by 
Governor Vance, and came home to organize a company, 
which became Company B, Forty-second regiment, Col. 
John E. Brown commanding. At Shepardsville, N. C., 
he was promoted to captain of this company. With the 
Fourth regiment he was at Manassas during the fall and 
winter of 1861-62, and was under fire at Seven Pines, 
and as an officer of the Forty-second he participated in 
its entire career, ending at the battle of Bentonville and 
the surrender by General Johnston. In the brigade 
commanded by General Kirkland and General Martin 
successively he took part in the fighting around Peters¬ 
burg and at Cold Harbor, and in the final operations in 
North Carolina, and on every occasion the regiment per¬ 
formed its duty with gallantry and steadiness. Since the 
war Captain Crawford has been engaged in farming, is 
influential in his community and popular with his surviv¬ 
ing comrades of the Confederacy. In 1868 he was mar¬ 
ried to"Sally E. Heilig, and they have seven children: 
Mary Lee, Nora, Hallie, Katie, Sallie, James and 
William. 

Preston Cumming, of Wilmington, N. C., a survivor of 
the Cape Fear artillery, was born in Greensboro county 
in 1843, whence he enlisted in October, 1861, as a private 
in the artillery company commanded by his brother 
James D. Cumming, and known as the Cumming’s bat¬ 
tery or Cape Fear artillery. During his service he was 
promoted to sergeant, participated in the fighting on the 
Petersburg lines several months, and the battles of 
"Washington, Kinston and Bentonville, N. C., and finally 
surrendered with Johnston at Greensboro. Since then 
he has made his home at Wilmington. A third brother, 
William A. Cumming, served as a captain in the Third 
North Carolina regiment. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


457 


Lieutenant James Dalrymple, of Jonesboro, a lieuten¬ 
ant and gallant soldier of the Fiftieth North Carolina, is 
a native of Moore county, born in March, 1835. He is the 
son of John Dalrymple and Ann McFarland, whose par¬ 
ents came to North Carolina from Scotland about 1775. 
Like other North Carolinians of Scotch descent he was a 
stalwart and daring soldier during the great war, and in 
the years of peace that have followed has prospered and 
gained a leading position among his fellows. He was 
educated in the common schools, and bred to the work of 
his father’s farm, and then engaged in schoolteaching, 
finding employment in this profession in his native State 
and in Louisiana and Texas. Being in Louisiana when 
the war began he returned to North Carolina and enlisted 
as a private in Company F, Fiftieth regiment, State 
troops. In 1862 he was promoted to lieutenant. During 
his service he was identified with the excellent record of 
his regiment and Daniel’s brigade, to which it belonged, 
in the Seven Days’ campaign about Richmond, the cam¬ 
paign in eastern North Carolina, and finally in the cam¬ 
paign under Gen. J. E. Johnston in the spring of 1865. 
Though participating in many hard-fought battles he was 
never wounded. He was surrendered with the army 
under Johnston, and then returned to Jonesboro in May, 
1865. After teaching school for five years he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, in which he continued with much 
success for a period of twenty-two years. He has served 
for a considerable period as magistrate. By his marriage 
in i860 to Margaret S., daughter of N. R. Br) r an, he has 
four children: Palmer, John N., Annie and Myrta. 

Captain George David Darsey, of Charlotte, N. C., is a 
native of Georgia, and served during the great war with 
a Georgia regiment. His father, Edward Darsey, son of 
George and Malinda Darsey, natives of Maryland, was a 
planter of Columbia county, Ga., and married Martha, 
daughter of David Stanford, a soldier of the war of 1812, 
and afterward judge of the inferior court of Columbia 
county. These parents gave three sons to the Confed¬ 
erate service, Francis Marion, a sergeant of Company K, 
Sixteenth Georgia infantry, killed at the battle of South 
Mountain, September 14, 1862; Thomas Edward, private 
in a Georgia cavalry command, now residing in his 
native county, and the subject of this notice, who was 


458 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


born July 7, 1839, and on July 25, 1861, left home with 
his brother Francis, and enlisted at Richmond, July 31st, 
as a private in the same company. His gallant service 
soon won promotion through the lieutenancies to cap¬ 
tain of Company K. He took part in the early battle of 
Dam No. 1 on the Virginia peninsula, and the famous 
engagements at Malvern hill, Fredericksburg, Chancel¬ 
lors ville, Gettysburg and the Wilderness; during the 
battles of South Mountain and Sharpsburg being detailed 
in the commissary department. In the battle of the 
Wilderness he received a severe wound which put a stop 
to his military service and disabled him more or less for 
fourteen years. After the close of hostilities he resided 
in his native county, occupied as a planter and serving 
from 1866 to 1880 as receiver of tax returns, and thence 
until 1892 as ordinary. In 1893 he removed to Charlotte. 
He is a member of the Confederate survivors’ association 
of Augusta. In 1870 he was married to Anna V. Hall, 
of Warren county, Ga., and they have three children: 
James Edward, a prosperous business man of Charlotte, 
Mary C., and Henry Francis. 

Graham Daves, third son of John P. Daves, of New 
Bern, N. C., and Elizabeth B. Graham, his wife, was 
born in New Bern the 16th of July, 1836. His father 
died when Major Daves was but two years old. His 
childhood and youth were passed in New Bern, where 
his early education was had at the New Bern academy. 
In the autumn of 1851 he was placed as a cadet of the 
Maryland military academy at Oxford, Md., where he 
remained for nearly two years, and in 1853 was entered 
as a freshman at Trinity college, Hartford, Conn., where 
he was graduated in July, 1857. After his graduation 
Major Daves read law with Hon. Richmond M. Pearson, 
afterward chief justice of North Carolina, and on Jan¬ 
uary 1, 1859, was appointed private secretary to Hon. 
John W. Ellis, governor of North Carolina, his brother- 
in-law. This position he held until the outbreak of the 
war between the States. Governor Ellis having died 
July 7, 1861, Major Daves joined the army as first lieu¬ 
tenant of the Twelfth volunteers, Col. J. Johnston Petti¬ 
grew, afterward known as the Twenty-second regiment, 
North Carolina troops, of which he was appointed adjut¬ 
ant, July 24, 1861. With this regiment he served until 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


459 


April, 1862, being on duty at different times at Raleigh, 
Richmond, Brook’s Station, Va., but most of the time at 
Evansport, Va., now called Quantico, where the regiment 
was employed in erecting, and a portion of it in manning 
after their completion, and serving the heavy batteries 
that so long blockaded the Potomac river at that point. 
The regiment was in a brigade during the time, with 
troops from other States, under Gens. Isaac R. Trimble 
and Samuel G. French. On the 1st of April, 1862, Gen¬ 
eral French having been assigned to the command at Wil¬ 
mington, N. C., Lieutenant Daves was detached from 
the infantry, transferred to the general staff and placed 
on duty with General French as assistant adjutant-gen¬ 
eral with rank of captain. In this capacity he served 
until July following, when the command was ordered to 
Petersburg, Va. On November 5, 1862, he was promoted 
major and was in active service in Virginia until June, 
1863, when he was ordered to Mississippi, where he 
served as assistant adjutant-general of a division in the 
command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in the campaigns 
in that State previous, and subsequent to, the surrender 
of Vicksburg. Returning to Virginia, Major Daves 
resigned his commission November 16, 1863, and report¬ 
ing to the bureau of conscription, was enrolled as a pri¬ 
vate and assigned to duty in the conscript office, Ral¬ 
eigh, N. C., where he remained until July, 1864. On 
the 7th of that month he was promoted and commis¬ 
sioned first lieutenant and aide-de-camp to Lieut.-Gen. 
Theophilus Holmes, and remained on duty with him until 
March, 1865, when he was temporarily transferred by 
General Holmes to the division of Maj.-Gen. Robert F. 
Hoke, then in Hardee’s corps, with which he served until 
the surrender of Gen. Joe Johnston’s army to General 
Sherman near Greensboro, N. C., at which time he was 
paroled, his parole bearing date of April 26, 1865. Re¬ 
turning to his home, he has been occupied at different 
times since in mercantile pursuits, and as a railway 
official in Wilmington, Charleston and elsewhere, and 
has devoted much time to the study and writing of the 
colonial and revolutionary history of North Carolina. 
He married in November, 1862, Alice DeRosset, daugh¬ 
ter of Armand J. DeRosset, M. D., of Wilmington, N. C. 
Mrs. Daves died, without issue, September 2, 1897. 
Major Daves’ present residence (1898) is New Bern, N. C. 


460 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Theodore F. Davidson, a prominent lawyer and public 
man of North Carolina, is a descendant of a Scotch-Irish 
family which has been conspicuous in the history of the 
commonwealth from colonial times. William Davidson 
came to the State with his parents from Pennsylvania as 
early as 1748, served during the revolutionary war as a 
major of militia, represented Rutherford county in the 
general assembly of 1791, and was prominent in the 
organization of Buncombe county, of which he was a 
member of the first court and a representative in the 
senate. One of his sons, William Mitchell Davidson, born 
in 1773, married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. David 
Vance, a hero of the continental army and an ancestor of 
Gov. Z. B. Vance and Gen. R. B. Vance. One of the nine 
children of these parents was Allen T. Davidson, born in 
Haywood county in 1819, who was prominent as an 
attorney, banker and railroad director and representative 
in the Confederate States Congress. By his marriage to 
Adeline Howell he had eight children, of whom the 
eldest is Theodore F. Davidson, the subject of this notice. 
The latter was born in Haywood county, March 30, 1845, 
was prepared for college in the school of Col. Stephen 
Lee, and had been appointed a cadet at the United States 
naval academy when the beginning of hostilities in 1861 
enlisted his patriotic activity. On April 16, 1861, at the 
age of sixteen years, he became a private in the Bun¬ 
combe Rifles, W. W. McDowell captain, that being the 
first company organized in the State west of the Blue 
ridge. The company was assigned to the First regi¬ 
ment, and after the disbandment of this command he 
enlisted in Company C, Thirty-ninth regiment, Col. 
David Coleman, with which he served in the western 
army. He was made sergeant-major and held that posi¬ 
tion until after the battle of Murfreesboro, when he was 
commissioned as aide to Gen. Robert B. Vance, in com¬ 
mand of the military district of western North Carolina. 
Subsequently he served as assistant adjutant-general on 
the staff of his brigade, successively commanded by Col. 
John B. Palmer and Gen. James G. Martin, until the 
close of the war. He participated with gallantry in the 
campaigns of Cumberland Gap, Bragg’s Kentucky cam¬ 
paign, East Tennessee and Chickamauga. A portion of 
the brigade to which he belonged, about May 1, 1865, 
fired the last hostile guns of the war east of the Missis- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


461 


sippi. After the close of hostilities he resumed his 
studies under Colonel Lee, and then began the reading of 
law and was admitted to practice two years later. He 
formed a law partnership with his father in 1868, and, 
after the dissolution of that partnership in 1882, was asso¬ 
ciated with James G. Martin. In 1867 he was elected 
solicitor of Clay county. Taking an active part in polit¬ 
ical affairs, he was chairman for his county and congres¬ 
sional district in the Democratic organization for ten 
years, from 1872, and in 1878 and 1880 was elected to the 
State senate, where he was accorded a position of leader¬ 
ship. In 1879 he was appointed director for the State-at- 
large of the Western North Carolina railroad, and in 1881 
director of the Western North Carolina insane asylum. 
His prominence as a jurist led in 1882 to his appointment 
as judge of the criminal court of Buncombe, and in 1884 
he was called upon to relinquish this position to accept 
the office of attorney-general of the State, to which he 
was elected by a handsome majority and re-elected in 
1888, declining a renomination in 1892. In 1895 he was 
elected mayor of Asheville for one year, but resigned in 
about eight months. Since then he has been practicing 
law. 

Major David S. Davis, of Goldsboro, was born in 
Lenoir county in 1840, the son of James Davis, a native 
of that county and a soldier of the war of 1812. He was 
educated at Goldsboro and enlisted there in the spring 
of 1861 in the First North Carolina cavalry, in which he 
served one year as a sergeant. He then organized a com¬ 
pany of partisan rangers, of which he was commissioned 
captain by the secretary of war, July 23, 1862. With 
this independent command he served in eastern North 
Carolina until August, 1862, when he was attached to the 
Eighth battalion under Maj. J. H. Nethercutt. In 
December, 1863, this and the Tenth battalion were con¬ 
solidated in the Sixty-sixth regiment, under Col. A. D. 
Moore. On July 14, 1864, he was commissioned major of 
this regiment, and in March, 1865, was recommended for 
promotion to lieutenant-colonel. During his career he 
participated in the skirmish of October 15, 1862, near 
New Bern, in November near Ten Mile house in the same 
vicinity, the battle of Kinston, December, 1862, skir¬ 
mish at Sand Ridge, January, 1863, and, going into Vir- 


462 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ginia in May, 1864, took part in the battles at Walthall 
Junction, Bermuda Hundred and Cold Harbor; served in 
the trenches before Petersburg until September 30th, 
under fire of the enemy’s mortars, fought in the battle of 
Fort Harrison, and then was sent to Wilmington; was 
under fire at Fort Gatlin, took part in an encounter at 
Fort Fisher, and several skirmishes following, the battle 
at Cobb house, near Kinston, at Wise’s fork, at the battle 
of Bentonville and subsequent skirmishes, up to the sur¬ 
render, when he was present. From June, 1864, until the 
end, he was in command of the Sixty-sixth regiment. 
In 1872 Major Davis was married to Anna Lightner, 
widow of his brother, Dr. John Davis. 

John Dixon Davis, commander of James W. Cooke 
camp, U. C. V., of Beaufort, who has had a long and honor¬ 
able career as a county and Federal official at that city, also 
rendered faithful service in his youth as a soldier of the 
Confederacy. Fie was born in Carteret county, July 4, 
1845, and there enlisted October 16, 1861, as a private in 
Company G, Fortieth regiment, North Carolina heavy 
artillery. After a year’s service, in which he participated 
in the battle of New Bern, he was honorably discharged 
on account of physical disability, and was not able to do 
further service until January, 1864, when he went to 
Columbus, Ga., and enlisted in Company C, in one of the 
battalions organized from the men stationed at that point. 
There he was detailed in the arsenal iron works, except 
when ordered out on active duty. With this command he 
participated in the battle of Ezra Church, near Atlanta, 
under Gen. S. D. Lee; was in skirmishing at Macon 
when Sherman was on his fiery “marching through 
Georgia;’’ served at Savannah under Hardee, and at 
Girard, Ala., near Columbus, took part in the defense of 
that city against Wilson’s raiders. He was captured in 
this last battle, sent to Macon and paroled. Subsequently 
he resided at Morehead City until July, 1868, when he 
was elected sheriff of Carteret county, an office which he 
filled, with much efficiency for six terms. From 1879 he 
was in mercantile business until July, 1884, when he 
was elected clerk of the superior court of the county. 
This he resigned in his third term to accept the position 
of collector of customs. By his marriage in 1868 to 
Narcissa E. Webb, he has five children living: Lena C., 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


463 


wife of Robert Lee Humber, Lucy McLean, Maud D., 
Marion L. and Charles W. Mrs. Davis is the author of 
the beautiful poem entitled “The Soldier True Who Wore 
the Gray,” published in the Baltimorean, September, 
1884. George W. Davis, a brother of the foregoing, born 
in Carteret county in 1832, enlisted at the outbreak of 
the war as lieutenant of Company H, Tenth artillery, 
and resigning in October, 1861, re-enlisted in Company 
G, Fortieth heavy artillery, in which he served a year 
as second lieutenant. Then resigning he engaged in 
blockade running until he was captured in June, 1863. 
He was offered by his captors his freedom and a large 
sum of money if he would pilot the Federal gunboats over 
the bar for their contemplated attack on Fort Sumter, 
but indignantly declined the proposition and suffered 
imprisonment at Fort Warren until July, 1865. He con¬ 
tinued subsequently in the merchant marine, and was 
drowned in the Gulf of Mexico in 1893. 

Junius Davis, a prominent attorney of Wilmington, is 
a native of that city, born June 17, 1845. He was in 
school at Bingham’s institute in Alamance county when 
North Carolina decided to cast her lot with the Confed¬ 
erate States, and in the spring of 1863, being nearly 
eighteen years of age, he left his books to enter the mil¬ 
itary service. As a private in Battery C, Third battalion, 
North Carolina artillery, Capt. J. G. Moore, he served 
until the close of the war, for nearly a year in the bat¬ 
teries about Petersburg, fighting in the battles of Drewry’s 
Bluff and Bermuda Hundred, and on the Richmond lines, 
where he took part in the battle of Fort Harrison. In 
the last day’s fight at Petersburg he was slightly wounded, 
but continued on duty during the retreat until captured 
in the fighting on the evening preceding the surrender 
of the army. Returning then to his old home he took up 
the study of law, and was admitted to the practice in 1868. 
During the three decades which have followed he has 
attained notable distinction in his profession. 

Marcellus L. Davis, of Charlotte, a veteran of the First 
North Carolina cavalry, was born in Mecklenburg county, 
March 7, 1843, son of James H. Davis, who was a captain 
of militia previous to 1861. His mother was Jane Delilah 
Lee. The fact that his father was a Davis and his mother 


t 


464 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


a Lee once secured him generous entertainment at the 
home of a farmer while on a foraging expedition, the fact 
being ingeniously stated by one of his comrades to the 
previously inhospitable citizen. He was educated at the 
Charlotte military institute, under President D. H. Hill, 
and in the spring of 1861 accompanied the cadet corps to 
the Fisher camp of instruction at Raleigh. While there 
he sought to enlist in Colonel Hill’s regiment, the First, 
but, under the ruling of that officer, that the cadets must 
obtain the permission of their parents, was prevented by 
his mother’s message to “Come right home.” Subse¬ 
quently he was permitted to join the regiment in Vir¬ 
ginia, after the battle of Big Bethel, and remained there 
with a squad of cadets until they were called back to 
Raleigh for drill duty. Subsequently, after aiding in the 
organization of an infantry company at his home, he 
enlisted in the First cavalry, with whom he served dur¬ 
ing the remainder of the war in all its marches, skir¬ 
mishes, campaigns and battles. The regiment was one 
of the best of the splendid army, and gave to the Confed¬ 
erate service four generals, Ransom, Baker, Gordon and 
Barringer. Since those stirring scenes passed into his¬ 
tory he has been equally active in the pursuits of peace. 
He has been engaged in farming and in manufacturing 
with much success, and since 1895 has resided at Char¬ 
lotte. He is a prominent member of Mecklenburg camp 
and quartermaster of the Second brigade, North Carolina 
division, United Confederate Veterans. In 1865 he was 
married to Julia J., daughter of Samuel A. Davis, and 
sister of Lieut.-Col. James T. Davis, of the Forty-ninth 
North Carolina infantry, who was killed in the battle of 
Hare’s Hill, Petersburg. 

s 

Colonel William S. Davis, of the Twelfth North Caro¬ 
lina regiment, was born in Warren county, N. C., Janu¬ 
ary 9, 1840, and was graduated at Randolph-Macon 
college, Va, in 1859, receiving the highest grade ever 
given at that institution under the old curriculum. He 
subsequently attended the university of Virginia till the 
war broke out, when he came home and enlisted in May, 
1861, in the Warren Rifles, or Company C, Second North 
Carolina infantry. He was elected first lieutenant, and 
in the spring of 1862 promoted captain. A year later he 
became lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, and com- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


465 


manded it with great ability in several famous battles, 
including Gettysburg. In the latter fight, having but a 
remnant of 175 men at his command, he charged the 
enemy successfully, and was afterward complimented by 
General Rodes in the presence of the entire brigade. 
Subsequently he was recommended for promotion to 
brigadier-general. Among the battles in which he par¬ 
ticipated were Hanover Court House, Cold Harbor, Mal¬ 
vern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
Spottsylvania Court House, the Wilderness, Winchester, 
Monocacy and Strasburg. In the latter fight, command¬ 
ing Hoke’s brigade, he lost his left arm and was disabled 
for further service until February, 1865, when he 
reported to his command at Petersburg, and was not 
again on active duty in the field. In 1885, after various 
employment, he entered the ministry of the Methodist 
church, and served faithfully in that sacred calling until 
September, 1897, when, on duty in the pulpit, he sus¬ 
tained a stroke of paralysis which compelled him to retire 
from the ministry. He then made his home at Warren 
Plains, N. C. In 1863 he was married to Bettie Jones, of 
Warren county, and they have reared a family of ten 
children. 

Captain William H. Day, a prominent attorney of 
Raleigh, N. C., was born at Twilight, Halifax county, 
August 25, 1844, and was educated at Oaks, Orange 
county, and at the university of North Carolina. He 
abandoned his college studies on April 20, 1861, to enter 
the service of the South, enlisting in the Second regiment 
of State troops, afterward known upon reorganization as 
the Twelfth regiment. He enlisted as a private and 
soon afterward accompanied his regiment to Virginia, 
where the command was attached to Mahone’s brigade in 
the vicinity of Norfolk until the spring of 1862. He was 
then elected second lieutenant of Company K, which he 
had taken part in organizing. Early in 1863 he was 
promoted first lieutenant, and November 27, 1863, cap¬ 
tain of' Company K. With his regiment, in Garland’s 
brigade, he passed through the bloody struggle of the 
Seven Days before Richmond, took part in the heroic 
struggle on South mountain where Garland was killed, 
and continued in the ranks of this fighting regiment 
through the famous battles of Sharpsburg, Fredericks- 


466 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


burg, Gettysburg, Mine Run, and the Wilderness. On 
May 12, 1864, he had the misfortune to be one of the 
many captured at Spottsylvania Court House, the begin¬ 
ning of a tedious and painful experience as a prisoner of 
war. After four or five months at Point Lookout he was 
transferred to Fort Delaware, and thence was sent with 
the unfortunate six hundred officers who were held under 
fire of the batteries on Morris island in August, 1864. 
Subsequently he was detained at Fort Pulaski and Fort 
Delaware until his release, June 17, 1865. 

Alfred Washington Dean, a resident of Surry county, 
N. C., since 1867, and now a prosperous merchant of 
Mount Airy, was born in Patrick county, Va., Septem¬ 
ber 20, 1842. He entered the Confederate States service 
in the summer of 1861 as a private in the Twenty-ninth 
Virginia infantry regiment, and was first in battle at 
Prestonburg or Middle Creek, Ky., January 10, 1862. 
During the years of campaigning which followed he was a 
participant in many battles and skirmishes, including 
Blountsville, Tenn., Bachelor’s Creek, N. C., Drewry’s 
Bluff, Spottsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor, in 
the last battle receiving a slight wound. On June 16, 
1864, he crossed the James river to the Bermuda Hun¬ 
dred line, and was on duty there until February, 1865. 
On account of his long service on General Pickett’s divi¬ 
sion guard he was not a participant in many pitched 
battles. During the retreat from Petersburg he was in 
battle for the last time April 6, 1865, and escaping from 
Appomattox Court House, he went to Carroll county, 
Va., and remained until 1867, when he came to Surry 
county, N. C. Throughout his active and devoted 
career as a soldier he had the good fortune never to be 
captured, or sent to hospital or to be seriously wounded. 

Henderson Randolph DeLoatch, a Confederate veteran 
of Jackson, N. C., was born in Northampton county. 
September 9, 1836. He enlisted in April, 1861, in Com, 
pany A of the Fifteenth regiment, State troops, as a 
private, and accompanied that command to Virginia, 
where the regiment was assigned to the brigade of Gen- 
Howell Cobb. He participated in the battles of Dam 
No. 1, on the peninsula, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, 
South Mountain and Sharpsburg, Md.; fought on Marye’s 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


467 


hill, at Fredericksburg, and at Bristoe Station in the fall 
of 1863 was severely wounded in the foot. This injury 
necessitated his transfer to the cavalry, and he was sub¬ 
sequently a participant in all the engagements of Com¬ 
pany H, Second North Carolina cavalry, until the close 
of the war. In one of the minor engagements in North 
Carolina near the close of the war he was in immediate 
command of the line of battle. On eight occasions during 
his service he was struck by bullets, but never danger¬ 
ously hurt. Two of his brothers were in the service, both 
of whom lost their lives, one dying from wounds received 
at the Wilderness, and the other from disease. Since the 
war Mr. DeLoatch has been mainly engaged in farming 
and mercantile business. After filling minor official 
positions he was elected register of deeds for a term of 
two years in 1882, and in 1896 he was elected to the same 
position. He was married in 1874 to Maria Drake, who 
also lost two brothers in the Confederate service, and they 
have six children: Maria Randolph, Mary Julia, Daisy 
Dean, Junius Ramsey, Janie Drake and Rennie Peele. 

Captain Armand Lamar DeRosset, of Wilmington, 
N. C., experienced a varied service as a soldier of the 
Confederate States, took part in a number of famous 
battles, and did not escape without the suffering which 
fell so liberally to the lot of the Southern armies. He 
was born at Wilmington in 1842, a son of Dr. A. J. 
DeRosset and a brother of William L. DeRosset, colonel 
C. S. A., and conspicuous in the organization of Confed¬ 
erate veterans; was educated at New York and in Trinity 
college, Hartford, Conn., and on April 15, 1861, entered 
the service as a private in the Wilmington light infantry. 
After this organization became Company C of the 
Eighteenth infantry regiment, he remained with it three 
months, then being promoted to a lieutenancy in the 
Third regiment. In July, 1863, he was detached from 
the latter command, by order of the war department, and 
ordered to report to General Winder at City Point. As 
provost-marshal he served six months at Wilmington, and 
then, being promoted captain, was ordered to Fayetteville, 
where he took command of Company B, Second North 
Carolina battalion, known as the Arsenal Guard. Upon 
his request for active service he was ordered to Virginia 
and given command of the battalion. But the defenses 

No C3 


468 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of Wilmington now being seriously threatened he was 
transferred to Fort Caswell, where he was on duty until 
the fort was evacuated. Reporting to General Hoke he 
and his battalion were ordered to Wilmington, and after 
the fall of that city, he was sent with his battalion and 
Moseley’s artillery to Elizabethtown to protect the flank 
of Hardee’s army from the gunboats on the river. Pro¬ 
ceeding to Fayetteville in the same duty, he joined 
Hardee’s corps and took part in the battle of Averasboro, 
March 16, 1865. Here he received a severe wound in 
the breast, and, being left in the field hospital, was cap¬ 
tured and paroled by the Federal troops. During his 
service in the army of Northern Virginia with the Third 
regiment he was in the battles of Mechanicsville, Cold 
Harbor, Malvern Hill, Chantilly, Sharpsburg and Fred¬ 
ericksburg (May, 1863). At Mechanicsville he was 
knocked down and badly bruised by a grapeshot, which 
struck his pistol on his right hip, and at Sharpsburg he 
received a wound in the arm. Since the war Captain 
DeRosset has resided at Wilmington, where he is a val¬ 
ued citizen. He was married in May, 1866, to Tallulah, 
daughter of James H. Low, of New Orleans, and they 
have six children: Louise, Anne, wife of J. W. Harris 
of Cartersville, Ga., Armand L. Jr., Tallulah, Madeline, 
and James Low, now in the banking business in New York. 

Colonel William L. DeRosset, commander of the North 
Carolina division, United Confederate Veterans, with 
the rank of major-general, was born at Wilmington in 
1832, the eldest son of Dr. Armand J. and Eliza DeRosset. 
He was prepared for college at St. Timothy’s hall, Md., 
and during 1849 and 1850 was a student in the university 
at Chapel Hill. Subsequently he was with his father 
for a time at New York and then indulged a natural bent 
for mechanics in the Lawrence machine shops, Massa¬ 
chusetts. Returning to Wilmington, he was mainly con¬ 
nected, for several years, with the mercantile firm of 
DeRosset & Brown, of which he became a member in 
i860. In 1855 he became lieutenant of the Wilmington 
light infantry, and in the following year was elected 
captain. In this command, under orders from the gov¬ 
ernor, he occupied Fort Caswell with other companies, 
in April, 1861, and about two weeks later was ordered to 
occupy Federal Point, the site of Fort Fisher, where there 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


469 


was then a two-gun battery. Here he was on duty for 
several months. At the organization of the troops for serv¬ 
ice during the war, he was commissioned major and 
assigned to the Third regiment, of which Gaston Meares 
was colonel and R. H. Cowan lieutenant-colonel. At the 
reorganization in May, 1862, Cowan having been elected 
colonel of the Eighteenth regiment, DeRosset was pro¬ 
moted to lieutenant-colonel. In this rank he served in 
Ripley’s brigade in the campaign before Richmond, par¬ 
ticipating with credit in the battles of Mechanicsville, 
Gaines’ Mill and Malvern Hill. In the latter engagement 
the gallant Meares was instantly killed by a fragment of 
shell, and DeRosset assumed command of the regiment, 
soon afterward being promoted to colonel. He partici¬ 
pated in the Maryland campaign, in command of Ripley’s 
brigade, but not actively engaged, at South mountain; 
and at Sharpsburg commanded his noble regiment, which 
lost in the carnage of that day 330 killed and wounded out 
of 520 taken into the fight, including 23 out of 27 officers, 
seven of whom were killed or died from their wounds. 
Colonel DeRosset was among the wounded, a minie ball 
passing through the lower part of his body, nearly caus¬ 
ing his death and disabling him for service in the field. 
Gen. D. H. Hill, in recounting the severe losses of his 
division, reported: “Colonel DeRosset, Third North 
Carolina, received a severe wound which I fear will for¬ 
ever deprive the South of his valuable services. ” After 
many months of suffering he finally gave up hope of 
resuming his command, and resigned his commission as 
colonel in the summer of 1863. But in January, 1865, 
he accepted the appointment of colonel in the invalid 
corps, from President Davis, and was surrendered with 
the army in North Carolina at Greensboro. While the 
fear expressed by General Hill was practically realized, 
so far as military duty was concerned, happily it is true 
that the Sharpsburg bullet has not deprived the South of 
the valuable services of this true and loyal hearted gentle¬ 
man in the years of peace which have followed the great 
struggle. In the midst of business pursuits he has lived 
the life of a gentleman of high character and noble 
ideals. He has been very prominent in the work of 
organization of the veterans’ association, maintaining in 
this way a close touch with the Confederate soldiers of 
the entire South, and at the Houston reunion he was 


470 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


elected commander of the division comprising his State. 
The family of Colonel DeRosset was a unit in the support 
of the cause, from 1861 to 1865. His father was a mem¬ 
ber of the committee of safety of Wilmington, and aided 
as best he could the soldiers in the field. His mother, 
whose memory is blessed, was president of the Soldiers' 
aid society of Wilmington throughout the war, and 
revealed a remarkable administrative ability in providing 
relief for the boys who wore the gray. Under her direc¬ 
tion, and that of her able lieutenant, Mrs. Alfred Martin, 
the ladies would daily gather at the city hall and labor 
unweariedly for the comfort of their sons and their com¬ 
rades. When Hoke’s footsore and hungry veterans came 
to Wilmington, the women provided them food and hos¬ 
pitality, and during the harrowing scenes of hospital life 
which followed, she was the leader in deeds of mercy. 
When all was over she was the first to urge the organiza¬ 
tion of the Ladies’ memorial association, in which she 
never accepted office, but faithfully devoted her talents 
as long as she lived. Four other of her sons, younger 
brothers of Colonel DeRosset, were in the Confederate 
service: Dr. M. John DeRosset, who left a position as 
surgeon in Bellevue hospital, New York, and offers of 
position in a New York regiment to volunteer for the 
South, served with Jackson in the Valley in 1862, and 
afterward was one of the surgeons in charge of the Baptist 
college hospital, Richmond; Capt. A. L. DeRosset. 
Third North Carolina regiment, who was several times 
wounded and finally was left for dead on the field of 
Averasboro, but fortunately recovered; Louis H. De¬ 
Rosset, who was detailed in the ordnance and quarter¬ 
master’s department and was sent to Nassau on duty 
connected with the latter, and Thomas C. DeRosset, who 
left school to join the Junior reserves, was detailed for 
duty at the Fayetteville arsenal, and died in 1878 from 
sunstroke while in command of the Whiting Rifles attend¬ 
ing memorial services at Oakdale cemetery. A sister of 
Colonel DeRosset also experienced the bitterness of war 
in the loss of her husband, Col. Gaston Meares. 

Thomas Byron Douthit, a leading citizen of Salem, 
N. C., born in Forsyth county in 1839, entered the Con¬ 
federate service in the spring of 1861 as a member of 
Company E of the Eleventh regiment, Col. W. W. Kirk- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


471 


land. After participating in the first battle of Manassas 
with this command, he was transferred at the reorganiza¬ 
tion, in 1862, to the First battalion, North Carolina 
sharpshooters, which was formed from this regiment. 
This command had an adventurous and famous career, 
full of hard fighting, and took part in all the great battles 
of the army of Northern Virginia. It was identified with 
the career of Ewell’s corps, and was attached to the same 
brigade all the way through, though under different com¬ 
manders. In the battles of Stonewall Jackson in the val¬ 
ley and in the Second Manassas campaign, in the fighting 
before Richmond, on the Rappahannock, in Maryland and 
Pennsylvania he was in the thick of the fight, and he was 
with the ragged and starving band of heroes who surren¬ 
dered at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. Since then he has 
lived a life of honorable social and business activity at 
Salem, where he first became a citizen in 1857. He has 
been honored by his fellow citizens with the office of 
mayor, and for four years was postmaster of the city. 
He has been and is now serving as magistrate. 

Henry D. Duckworth, a veteran of the Eleventh regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, was born in Burke county, 
August 15, 1846. His father, John A. Duckworth, was 
also in the military service of the Confederate States. 
Mr. Duckworth was reared from the age of ten years at 
Charlotte, which has since been his home. He was much 
under military age at the opening of hostilities between 
the South and North, but in March, 1861, he entered the 
volunteer organization known as the Charlotte Grays, 
which became Company A of the First, or Bethel regi¬ 
ment, later known as the Eleventh. He served with 
this command throughout the war, participating in num¬ 
erous engagements, prominent among which were the 
battles of White Hall, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spott- 
sylvania Court House, Cold Harbor and Ream’s Station. 
It was the fortune of his command to be almost invari¬ 
ably opposed in battle to the commands of General Burn¬ 
side or Hancock, and their gallant combats turned some¬ 
times in favor of one side, sometimes of the other. At 
Reams’ Station, his brigade, under General Heth, very 
nearly effected the capture of Hancock. He was wounded 
in the first day’s battle at Gettysburg, and April 1, 1865, 
was captured on the Petersburg lines. He was subse- 


472 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


quently imprisoned at Fort Delaware until June, 1865. 
During the past eight years Mr. Duckworth has been 
connected with the office of the tax collector of his county, 
for three years as deputy. He is a member of Mecklen¬ 
burg camp. By his marriage in 1878 to Mary E. Severs, 
he has four children living. 

Brodie L. Duke, of Durham, one of the most famous 
business men of the South, is a native of Orange county 
and son of Washington Duke, with whom he was associ¬ 
ated in the management of a tobacco manufacturing 
establishment, which, in its special lines, is the greatest 
in the world. Washington Duke was the son of Taylor 
Duke, a native of Orange county, and began life as a 
farmer, in which occupation his business capacity was 
manifested by his progress from renter to proprietor of 
a farm of three hundred acres previous to the war. He 
enlisted as a private in the Confederate service in 1863, 
served at Camp Holmes and Charleston, S. C., and then 
was transferred to Richmond, where he was on duty at 
Battery Brook and won promotion to the rank of orderly- 
sergeant by his skill as an artilleryman. Upon the evac¬ 
uation of Richmond he was captured and confined in 
Libby prison until the close of hostilities, when, being 
given transportation to New Bern, he walked the remain¬ 
ing distance to his home, 134 miles. Meanwhile, Brodie L., 
the eldest son, had been left in charge of Major Gee, com¬ 
mandant at the Salisbury prison, and he had become a 
member of a company of boys who were assigned to duty 
as guards. Just before Stoneman’s raid they removed 
the prisoners to South Carolina and remained there until 
the close of the war. Brodie L. Duke served as orderly 
to Major Gee, and when the latter was on trial before 
the United States court, accused of cruelty to prisoners, 
his testimony had great influence in bringing about ac¬ 
quittal. When young Duke returned to Durham after 
the surrender of the army, he was penniless and home¬ 
less. Walking six miles into the country, he was given 
a change of raiment by his aunt and then went to work 
for an uncle, receiving as his share of the profits of one 
year’s labor on the farm six barrels of corn and three 
barrels of flour. In the meantime his father had re¬ 
turned from Federal prison and the family was again 
united. In addition to farming, the elder Duke, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


473 


aided by his sons, began the manufacture of smoking 
tobacco in 1865, using a log cabin as a factory. Their 
business increased, and in 1869 B. L. Duke removed to 
Durham and established a factory in a vacant house. 
His father joined him in 1874, but their operations were 
distinct until 1878, when they formed the firm of W. 
Duke, Sons & Co. The business rapidly increased in 
volume, and imposing buildings were erected to accommo¬ 
date it. Before the institution was merged into the 
American tobacco company it was doing an annual busi¬ 
ness of over four and a half million dollars, with nine 
hundred employes at Durham and five hundred at New 
York. B. L. Duke, in addition to this manufacturing 
business, has large interests in real estate throughout the 
South and in various cotton factories. He established 
and built up the prosperous town of North Durham, and 
in various ways devotes his talents and wealth to the 
good of his community and the advancement of the State. 

Henry V. Dunstan, M. D., a prominent physician of 
Windsor, was born in Bertie county, September 2, 1842. 
He was educated at the Wake Forest college and the 
university of Virginia, and in medicine at the Virginia 
medical college, where he received his professional degree 
in 1862. He then immediately devoted his professional 
attainments to the service of the Confederacy, joining 
the army in June, 1862, and being assigned to hospital 
duty at Richmond, with the rank of assistant surgeon. 
About a year later he was ordered on field duty and 
attached to the Eighth Georgia cavalry, a command with 
which he was connected during the remainder of the war. 
In the performance of his duty as surgeon he was with 
his command in the military operations about Peters¬ 
burg during 1864-65, a period of service perhaps the most 
trying of any in the whole course of the great war; and 
when finally the Confederate capital was given up and 
the President and his cabinet started for a more central 
point, he accompanied the Georgia cavalry regiment 
which acted as escort to the presidential party. The 
story of the journey has often been told and is familiar. 
After the party was scattered and the President captured 
Surgeon Dunstan surrendered himself at Macon and was 
paroled. Thence he returned to Murfreesboro, N. C., 
where his people were then living, and remained there 


474 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


until 1867, when he made his home at Windsor, in his 
native county, and began the long professional career to 
which his life has been devoted. He is highly regarded by 
his people, both professionally and socially. Since the 
establishment of the office of superintendent of the county 
board of health he has been serving the public in that capa¬ 
city. Dr. Dunstan was married in 1869 to Mary E. Miller, 
of Bertie county, who died in 1890, leaving two sons, Henry 
V. Jr., and Frederick Miller. By his second marriage, 
in 1894, to Bessie Tayloe, he has one son, Thomas E. 

Oren Osborn Eidson, of Elkin, N. C., is a native of 
Iredell county, where he was reared and educated. 
Early in 1861 he enlisted in a volunteer company organ¬ 
ized in Iredell, which became Company A of the Seventh 
regiment, North Carolina troops, with which he joined 
the brigade of General Branch and participated in the 
battle of New Bern before going into Virginia and becom¬ 
ing a part of the army of Northern Virginia. In May, 
1862, he went with his regiment to Gordonsville, Va., 
thence returning to Hanover Court House and, after the 
battle there, participating in the Seven Days’ campaign 
before Richmond and the following engagements of 1862 : 
Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, Sharps- 
burg and Fredericksburg. At Chancellorsville he was 
within 50 yards of Gen. Stonewall Jackson when the 
latter received his fatal wound, and at Gettysburg his 
regiment was distinguished among the immortal assail¬ 
ants of the Federal line on Cemetery hill. He also went 
through the campaign from the Rapidan to the James in 
1864, and was with his command throughout the siege of 
Petersburg. On the day before the evacuation, his regi¬ 
ment was sent on special duty to Greensboro, where he 
first learned of the surrender at Appomattox. Mr. Eid¬ 
son served first as a private in the line, later as orderly- 
sergeant in the ambulance corps, and finally in the com¬ 
missary and medical departments. After the close of 
hostilities he resided in his native county until 1873, 
when he became a citizen of Elkin. For twelve years he 
has served efficiently as deputy sheriff. 

Lieutenant Jesse T. Ellington, sheriff of Johnston 
county, N. C., is remembered by his comrades as a gal¬ 
lant private and officer of the Fiftieth regiment, Kirk- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


475 


land’s brigade, Hoke’s division. He was born in Clayton 
county in 1842, and was educated at Wake Forest col¬ 
lege, which he left after two and a half years’ study, in 
February, 1862, to enlist in Company C of the Fiftieth. 
He served as a private until December following, when 
he was elected first lieutenant. In Gen. Junius Daniel’s 
brigade he took part in the battle of Malvern Hill, in 
Virginia, and later in the war participated in the engage¬ 
ments at Little Washington, N. C., Savannah, Ga., Salke- 
hatchie river, S. C., Averasboro and Bentonville, N. C. 
After the surrender at Greensboro he returned to his 
native county, and taught school for two years, then 
engaged in farming, his present occupation. He has 
been prominent and influential in this county, and was 
elected in 1881 as its representative in the legislature. 
In 1884 he was appointed sheriff, an office he has ever 
since filled, except two years, 1886-87, with much 
credit. By his marriage in 1867 to Delia Smith, who 
died in 1882, he has four children: John W., Jessie D., 
Henter D. and Lucille. In 1885 he married Sallie Wil¬ 
liamson, of Suffolk, Va., and they have three sons: Doug¬ 
las D., Kenneth R. and Eric L. A brother of the fore¬ 
going, Joseph C. Ellington, for four years State librarian 
of North Carolina, served also in the Fiftieth regiment, 
as third lieutenant of Company C. 

Captain Andrew J. Ellis, M. D., of Garysburg, N. C., 
was born in Northampton county in 1834, and received 
his academic education in the university of North Caro¬ 
lina at Chapel Hill, and was educated professionally at 
the university of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated 
in 1858. He then began the active practice of medicine 
at Garysburg, in which he has continued for forty years, 
with the exception of his service as an officer of the 
Confederate States army. When North Carolina had 
united her fortunes with the Confederacy he gave himself 
manfully to her support, and organized a company for 
light artillery service, with which he was mustered in as 
captain February 10, 1862. In this capacity he was on 
duty in North Carolina during the remainder of the war, 
participating in the various defensive operations of the 
earlier period, and in the winter of 1864-65, being stationed 
in the vicinity of Wilmington, taking part in the defense 
of that city and the operations against the Federal army 


476 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


which attacked Fort Fisher. His final battle was at Ben- 
tonville, and soon after he was surrendered with the army 
by General Johnston. Dr. Ellis is prominent as a physi¬ 
cian and holds a position of honor in the community, 
fairly earned by his long and illustrious professional 
career and upright life. By his first marriage, in 1859, 
to Sarah J. Ramsey, of Northampton county, he has one 
daughter living, Mrs. John H. Weaver, of Texas; and by 
his second marriage in 1885 to Margaret Bell Fitzhugh, 
he has a daughter, Margaret Bell. 

Thomas Leyburn Emry, of Weldon, N. C., widely 
known as an enterprising citizen and a leader in the 
development of the resources of the State, was born at 
Petersburg, Va., December 18, 1842. In boyhood it was 
his misfortune to be left an orphan and penniless, and in 
consequence his youth was a struggle against adverse 
circumstances. But however bitter this may have been 
at the time, this trial but served to develop and strengthen 
those rugged qualities of self-reliance and manly activity 
which have brought him success in life. Learning the 
trade of a tinner, he removed to Halifax, N. C., in 1859, 
to follow that business. But in December, i860, his 
adventurous and generous nature was appealed to by the 
bold action of South Carolina in declaring her secession 
from the Union, and going to that State he enlisted as 
a private in the Sixth South Carolina regiment. While 
in the ranks of this command he witnessed the bombard¬ 
ment and reduction of Fort Sumter. In July, 1861, 
accompanying his regiment to Virginia, he reached the 
field of Manassas just as the shattered Federal army was 
fairly started on its flight to Washington, and subse¬ 
quently at Dranesville, he realized the varying fortunes 
of war by sharing in the discomfiture of his command. 
In the fall of 1861 he obtained a transfer to the Second 
regiment, North Carolina volunteers, afterward Twelfth, 
State troops, under Col. Sol Williams, in order that he 
might rejoin the Halifax light infantry company, to 
which he had belonged before the war. With this regi¬ 
ment he was in the Seven Days’ campaign before Rich¬ 
mond, and at Malvern Hill, by his intrepid conduct, won 
honor and promotion. He was thus commended in the 
general orders of Col. B. O. Wade, commanding the regi¬ 
ment: “It is gratifying to know that the bravery of some 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


477 


was without precedent. The noble daring of Private 
T. L. Emry won the admiration of all his command, he 
having seized the flag and rushed through a shower of 
bullets to the brow of the hill, and there stood defiantly 
waving it in the enemy’s face until it and staff were 
completely riddled with bullets.” He was also men¬ 
tioned with praise in the orders of the brigade com¬ 
mander, the gallant Samuel Garland. During the re¬ 
mainder of the war, Mr. Emry, having been incapacitated 
by wounds, was detailed on light duty of various kinds, 
but he continued on duty until the close. Returning to 
Halifax in 1865 he embarked in mercantile business, 
and in 1869 he removed to Weldon, where he has ever 
since been one of the foremost citizens. From 1876 until 
1891, with the exception of one term, he was kept by his 
fellow citizens in the office of mayor, an expression of 
confidence and popularity not often witnessed. From 
1886 to 1889 he served upon the board of county commis¬ 
sioners, and he then accepted his party’s nomination for 
the State senate and overcame the adverse majority and 
took his seat for one term. For fifteen years he devoted 
his talents to the public good as president of the Roanoke . 
Tar river agricultural society, which was very suc¬ 
cessful under his management. In the spring of 1889 
he conceived the project of utilizing the great water 
power at the rapids of the Roanoke and building there a 
manufacturing town, and entering into this enterprise with 
his characteristic energy, he has had the satisfaction of 
seeing the town of Roanoke Rapids grow to a population 
of 1,200 in three years from its foundation, with various 
industrial plants, including two mammoth cotton mills. 
It promises to become the Lowell of the South. Of this 
new city Mr. Emry was the first mayor. In the associa¬ 
tion of Confederate veterans he is an active and devoted 
member, and is commander of W. A. Johnston camp at 
Weldon. By his marriage in 1866 to Emma J. Spiers, of 
Virginia, he has one son, Charles Ransom Emry. 

Captain John R. Erwin, of Charlotte, first commander 
of Mecklenburg camp, United Confederate Veterans, 
was born in York county, S. C., August 1, 1838, the son 
of William L. and Anna (Williamson) Erwin, natives of 
that State. From the age of twelve years he was reared 
in Mecklenburg county, upon his father’s farm, and his 


478 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


old-field school education was supplemented by study at 
Ebenezer academy in his native State. At seventeen 
years he began mercantile life as a clerk at Charlotte, 
and in 1859 he sought a fresh field for enterprise in 
Texas, but was called thence in 1861 by the prospect of 
war. He enlisted in April, 1861, in the Ranaleburg 
Rifles, was elected first lieutenant, and after reaching 
Garysburg was appointed adjutant of the camp of in¬ 
struction and offered the rank of major of the Third regi¬ 
ment, to which the Rifles were assigned as Company B. 
Declining this honor he remained with his company 
during the period of enlistment. In May, 1862, he was 
elected captain of Company F, Fifth North Carolina cav¬ 
alry, and with this gallant command was identified during 
the remainder of the war. While with the Third he 
participated in the fighting at Yorktown, Va., and as a 
cavalry officer took part in the many engagements of his 
regiment, notably those at Brandy Station, Culpeper, 
Warrenton Court House, Warrenton Junction, the Wil¬ 
derness, Yellow Tavern, Second Cold Harbor, White 
Oak Swamp, Second Malvern Hill, Reams’ Station, 
Belfield, all his regiment’s fights, in fact, except during 
the Gettysburg campaign, when he was disabled by 
illness. From March 31, 1865, he was in command of the 
Fifth, in the battles of Chamberlain Run, where he took 
part in the last defeat of the Federals, Five Forks and 
Namozine church. Since the close of hostilities Captain 
Erwin has resided in Mecklenburg county and has had 
an honorable career as a public official. He served as 
chief of police of Charlotte from 1873 to 1875; from that 
date until 1886 as clerk of the superior court; chairman 
of the finance committee from 1886 to 1892, then as a 
member of the State legislature; from 1893 to 1895 as 
private secretary of S. B. Alexander, member of Con¬ 
gress ; chairman of the board of county commissioners in 
1895 an d 1896; chairman of the building committee of 
the new courthouse in 1897. He was married in 1867 to 
Jennie, daughter of Maj. Z. A. Grier, and after her death 
in 1878, he married Sallie, daughter of Col. W. M. Grier. 
He has five children living. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


479 


Captain E. Everett, a prominent citizen of Swain 
county, was born in Tennessee in 1830 of North Caro¬ 
lina ancestry. His parents were Signor and Catherine 
(Walker) Everett, natives of Tennessee, whither their 
parents removed from the old North State at an early 
day. His father, who returned to North Carolina in 
1866 and died in 1898 at the age of ninety-two years, 
served in the cavalry company of Captain Hollins, in the 
Confederate army, though much over military age; par¬ 
ticipated in the battles of Fishing Creek, Murfreesboro 
and many others, and being captured in east Tennessee, 
late in the war, was held a prisoner until the close of 
hostilities. Captain Everett was reared upon a farm in 
east Tennessee, in 1852 was married to Mary Cave, and 
in 1858 went to the California gold-fields by the ocean 
route and spent two years profitably in that region. 
Returning to Tennessee for a visit he was swept into the 
Confederate army by the popular enthusiasm of 1861, 
which he fully shared, and became a member of the Third 
regiment of Tennessee volunteers. Having assisted in 
raising Company E of this command, he was commis¬ 
sioned lieutenant, and in this rank at once went to the 
front in Virginia, and was in the fight at Newtown under 
Johnston, and at First Manassas. In May, 1863, with 
the rank of captain, he was detailed for enlistment serv¬ 
ice in Blount county, and in August, 1863, he became 
captain of a company of Thomas’ legion, with which he 
served to the end. On May 1, 1865, having been sent to 
Knoxville with a dispatch for General Sheridan from 
Gen. J. E. Johnston, he was made a prisoner on the 
same street of the town where he had been mustered in, 
May 1, 1861. After this he was held in military prison 
until the hostilities were considered closed by the Fed¬ 
eral authorities. He removed to North Carolina in the 
same year and has resided there ever since. At the 
organization of Swain county in 1871, he was elected the 
first sheriff and retained in office until he declined fur¬ 
ther service, five years later. In 1875 he was a member 
of the constitutional convention. He has had an active 
career in politics, and has been a delegate to many State 
conventions of his party. For many years he was a 
leading merchant of his city, but of late has confined 
his attention to agricultural pursuits. He has one son 
living, John H., his successor as a merchant. 


480 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


E. G. Everitt, of Mount Airy, a veteran of the First 
regiment, who bears upon his body the insignia of suffer¬ 
ing in the army of the Confederacy, and in his heart true 
devotion to the cause, was born in Isle of Wight county, 
Va., March 5, 1836, and entered the service from Halifax 
county, N. C. He enlisted at Gaston in January, 1862, 
as a private in Company K of the First regiment, North 
Carolina troops, Col. M. S. Stokes, and in the following 
spring was at the front before Richmond among the 
heroes who met the army of McClellan at Seven Pines, 
and under the leadership of the great Robert E. Lee, 
pounded back the invaders to the cover of their gun¬ 
boats. At Gaines’ Mill he received his first wound, a 
painful one in the left thigh. Afterward he fought at 
Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Win¬ 
chester. In the latter fight he was again wounded, but 
this did not prevent his going on with the army to the 
field of Gettysburg, where among the terrible losses of the 
army it was his misfortune to be hit on the thigh, break¬ 
ing the bone from the knee to the hip. His wound was 
so severe that he was left on the field, and after 
that he was in the Federal hospitals and a prisoner 
at Point Lookout until released a short time before 
the surrender at Appomattox. Subsequently he resided 
in Halifax county, N. C., until 1886, and in 1893, after 
various places of residence, he made his home at Mount 
Airy. 

Captain William T. Faircloth, of Goldsboro, elected 
chief justice of the supreme court of North Carolina in 
1894, was born in Edgecombe county, January 8, 1829. 
His parents were of English descent and his father was 
a farmer, the vocation to which he was reared. Enter¬ 
ing Wake Forest college in youth, he defrayed his ex¬ 
penses by teaching, and was graduated with distinction 
in 1854. He read law with Judge Pearson, was licensed 
to practice, located at Snow Hill, Greene county, and in 
the next month was elected county solicitor. Soon after¬ 
ward he removed to Goldsboro and practiced there until 
the spring of 1861, when he enlisted in Company C of 
the Second regiment, State troops, Col. C. C. Tew. 
Entering the service as a private, he was soon elected 
first lieutenant, and in December, 1861, upon the recom¬ 
mendation of Colonel Tew, was appointed quartermaster 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


481 


of the regiment with the rank of captain of cavalry. 
During the latter part of the war he also discharged the 
duties of brigade quartermaster. He was with his regi¬ 
ment through the Seven Days’ campaign before Rich¬ 
mond, at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, the Val¬ 
ley campaign under Early, including the demonstration 
against Washington, in the siege of Petersburg and the 
retreat to Appomattox, where he was surrendered. Then 
returning to Goldsboro he resumed his practice as a law¬ 
yer, and in August, 1865, was a delegate to the provisional 
State convention. In the same year he was elected to 
the legislature, and was chosen State solicitor of the 
superior courts for the Third judicial district, an office 
which he held until all offices were vacated in 1868. In 
1875 he was a delegate to the State constitutional con¬ 
vention, and in November, 1875, was appointed to fill the 
vacancy on the supreme bench occasioned by the second 
resignation of Judge Settle, his term expiring January 
1, 1879. In 1884 he canvassed the State as the Repub¬ 
lican nominee for lieutenant-governor, and in 1888 was 
the candidate of his party for justice of the supreme 
court. In 1894 he was elected to the honored position 
of chief justice. In addition to his prominent official 
duties and his busy career as a lawyer he has been a 
director of the Wilmington & Weldon and Atlantic & 
North Carolina railroads. In 1867 he was married to 
Evaline E., daughter of Council Wooten, of Mosely 
Hall, Lenoir county. 

Lieutenant William T. Farly, of Milton, a veteran of 
the famous Thirteenth North Carolina infantry, enlisted 
April 24, 1861, as a private in Company C, when the 
regiment, as one of the ten original regiments of North 
Carolina, was known as the Third, and was promoted 
through the grades of corporal and orderly-sergeant to 
first lieutenant. He was identified with the career of his 
regiment under the gallant colonels, W. D. Pender, A. M. 
Scales and Joseph Hyman, throughout the four years’ 
struggle, taking part in all the long list of famous battles 
which belong upon its banner, including Williamsburg, 
Seven Pines, Frayser’s Farm, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern 
Hill, Cold Harbor, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fred¬ 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Falling Waters, 


482 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Spottsylvania Court House, Second Cold Harbor, Peters¬ 
burg, Ream’s Station, Burgess’ Mill, Farmville and 
Appomattox. At Gettysburg, in the first day’s battle, 
every member of his company was killed or wounded 
except him and one comrade, and such was the fatality 
throughout the regiment that he, as orderly-sergeant, was 
its ranking officer. During the subsequent retreat he 
was captured at Falling Waters, and for two months 
afterward he was held as a prisoner at Point Lookout. 
Upon the close of this faithful career as a soldier, Lieu¬ 
tenant . Farly returned to his native town of Caswell and 
soon embarked in the business of a contractor and 
builder, in which he has met with success. Fie is also a 
member of the firm of Farly & Ferguson, furniture 
dealers and undertakers. Mr. Farly was born Septem¬ 
ber 18, 1839, son of Abner B. and Anna Owen Farljq 
and in July, 1866, he married Mary Elizabeth Covington, 
by whom he has four children living. His son, W. H. 
Farly, is in business at Danville, Va. 

Captain Owen Fennell, of Wilmington, N. C., formerly 
of the First regiment, North Carolina troops, was born 
in New Hanover county in 1832, and was reared at Wil¬ 
mington, where his father became a resident five years 
later. He entered the Confederate service as junior sec¬ 
ond lieutenant of Company C, First regiment, under Col. 
M. S. Stokes, in June, 1863. The regiment did good 
service during the Seven Days’ campaign around Rich¬ 
mond and the Maryland campaign, and Lieutenant Fen¬ 
nell shared its marching and fighting until just after the 
battle of Sharpsburg, when he was made acting assistant 
commissary of subsistence, with the rank of captain. He 
continued in this duty until the office was abolished after 
the Gettysburg campaign. Returning home in Septem¬ 
ber, 1863, he was appointed quartermaster of the re¬ 
serve forces by Governor Vance. Three or four months 
later he accepted the appointment of treasurer of New 
Hanover county from the county court, and held that 
position until the close of the war. In 1872 he was 
elected county treasurer, and in 1893 city treasurer, each 
for a term of two years. Two brothers of the foregoing 
were also in the service: Hardy L. Fennell, first lieuten¬ 
ant of Company C, First regiment, who was wounded in 
the Seven Days’ battles and died a year later, and John 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


483 


Gaston Fennell, now residing' in Texas, who served six 
months as a private in the same company, was honorably 
discharged on account of disability, and subsequently 
served in the Third cavalry until the surrender. 

Garland Sevier Ferguson, a prominent attorney of 
Waynesville, was born at Crabtree, N. C., May 6, 1843. 
He is the son of William Ferguson, the latter of Robert 
Ferguson, who was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and 
was brought to America when four years old by his par¬ 
ents, who, after settling in York, S. C., removed to west¬ 
ern North Carolina, where Robert, at the age of eleven 
years, carried water to the American soldiers during the 
battle of King’s Mountain. His mother was Ruth, 
daughter of Nathan Gibson, of a colonial family of 
Scotch-Irish extraction, and a second cousin of Andrew 
Jackson. She was also related to the noted families of 
Davidsons and Vances through her mother, a Branch, 
and her grandmother, a Penland. Mr. Ferguson was 
reared in Highland county, and when eighteen years of 
age enlisted, June 29, 1861, as a private in the Haywood 
Highlanders, which became Company F of the Twenty- 
fifth regiment, North Carolina troops. His regiment 
went to the front in Virginia in the spring of 1862, in the 
brigade of General Ransom, and he first met the enemy 
on the old Seven Pines battleground during the Seven 
Days’ battles, his regiment being on that day, June 25th, 
1,100 strong. He participated in the following battles: 
Frayser’s Farm, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, Sharps- 
burg and Fredericksburg, and the other engagements of 
his regiment; was in the assault and capture of Ply¬ 
mouth, April, 1864; was wounded at Drewry’s bluff in 
the fight against Butler, May 14th; returned to duty in 
June and fought at Petersburg, June 16th and 17th, then 
was in the battle on the Weldon railroad, August 21st, 
and then served in the Petersburg trenches through the 
succeeding fall and winter. He led his company in the 
memorable charge which cleared the line of Federals after 
the mine explosion at the Crater. On March 25, 1865, in 
the sortie of Gordon’s corps against Fort Steadman, he 
received a severe wound which kept him in hospital until 
some time after the closing acts of the great war drama. 
During his service he was promoted to second sergeant 
June, 1861, then to orderly-sergeant, and in July, 1864, to 

Nc 54 


484 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


lieutenant. Returning home he was elected clerk of the 
superior court at Waynesville in 1865, and re-elected in 
1868, but resigned in 1872, and having been admitted to 
the bar, entered upon his career as a lawyer, in which he 
has been eminently successful. He was elected to the 
State senate in 1876, and in 1878 and 1882 was elected 
solicitor of his judicial district. He is the present com¬ 
mander of Pink Welch camp, United Confederate Veter¬ 
ans, of which he was one of the organizers. Lieutenant 
Ferguson has seven children by his marriage in 1866 to 
Sarah, daughter of James H. Norwood, of North Caro¬ 
lina, who was murdered in 1851, while Indian agent at 
Pine Bluff, Mo. 

James T. Ferrell, of Durham, a veteran of Fisher’s 
regiment of heroes of First Manassas, was born in Wake 
county in 1841, the son of William Ferrell, a farmer. 
He enlisted in Company C of the Sixth regiment, North 
Carolina troops, in March, 1862, joining his command at 
Richmond. About two months later he had his intro¬ 
duction to war in the fiercely fought battle of Seven 
Pines. A few weeks later he participated in the battle 
of Gaines’ Mill, and soon afterward fought at Malvern 
hill. During the Maryland campaign of that year he 
was in battle at Boonesboro and Sharpsburg. Thus, in 
six months after his enlistment, he had done the duty of 
a brave soldier in a number of the most famous battles of 
history, in which the fighting qualities of a North Caro¬ 
lina volunteer were abundantly demonstrated. He was 
at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and while with 
his regiment storming the heights of Gettysburg received 
a severe wound which disabled him for a considerable 
time. Rejoining his regiment, he fought in the Shen¬ 
andoah Valley campaign and in the engagements about 
Richmond, during which he was taken prisoner by the 
enemy and held until July, 1865. After his return home 
Mr. Ferrell was engaged in farming for several years and 
then removed to Durham and entered the employment 
of Duke & Co. He held an important position in the 
shipping department of this establishment until the close 
of 1897, when he resigned and engaged in the mercantile 
business. By his marriage in i860 to Frances Turner he 
has four children living, William L., John W., Martha, 
wife of William Warren, and James A. Ferrell. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


485 


Colonel Charles F. Fisher, Colonel Isaac Erwin Avery 
and Colonel Samuel McDowell Tate were three brave 
North Carolina officers who successively commanded the 
gallant Sixth regiment. It is fitting that their names be 
associated in history, as their lives were during those 
days of carnage and suffering. Col. Charles F. Fisher, 
the first commander of the Sixth regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina troops, was, during the formation of the first regi¬ 
ments in the State, president of the North Carolina rail¬ 
road. When the military institute at Charlotte was 
abandoned by most of the cadets, who volunteered in 
various commands, he brought a number of men from 
along his own road and the Western, quartered them in 
the barracks and secured their drilling by the cadets who 
still remained. Soon afterward all were removed to 
company shops, and the work rapidly progressed until 
the Sixth regiment was organized in June, with Fisher 
as colonel, and mustered in for the war. On being mob¬ 
ilized the regiment acted as escort at the funeral of Gov¬ 
ernor Ellis at Raleigh, was reviewed and addressed by 
President Davis at Richmond, and proceeded to Win¬ 
chester, where it was assigned to General Bee’s brigade, 
of Gen. J. E. Johnston’s army in the Shenandoah valley. 
They reached Manassas Junction on the morning of the 
famous battle and marched hurriedly to the front, where 
the rattle of musketry and boom of cannon were already 
heard, going into their first battle in front of the Henry 
house, and were immediately under a destructive fire. 
After the enemy had recovered the ridge at this place 
and Rickett’s battery, the Sixth joined in the superb 
Confederate charge which finally swept back the Fed- 
erals. In this movement General Bee and Colonels Bar¬ 
tow and Fisher were killed. Colonel Fisher led his gal¬ 
lant men in the charge and fell 50 yards in advance of 
his line. Col. W. D. Pender, not long afterward, took 
command of the regiment, and upon his promotion, fol¬ 
lowing the battle of Seven Pines, Isaac E. Avery, up to 
this time captain of Company E, was promoted lieuten¬ 
ant-colonel. 

Colonel Isaac Erwin Avery was born December 20, 
1828, at the Avery home near Morganton. He was the 
son of Isaac T. Avery and grandson of Waightstill Avery, 
a descendant of a Massachusetts family whose ancestors 
came over in 1631. Cols. W. W. Avery, C. M. Avery 


486 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and Judge A. C. Avery were his brothers. After receiv¬ 
ing his education at Chapel Hill, he had been engaged in 
the management of a stock farm, and as an associate of 
Colonels Fisher and Tate in railroad construction. He 
entered the Sixth regiment at its organization as captain 
of Company E; was the first to call out ‘ ‘ Let us charge, ’ ’ 
at First Manassas, was wounded there, and in command 
of the regiment was again wounded at Gaines’ Mill, in 
the campaign before Richmond. Being for some time 
disabled, the command devolved upon Maj. Robert F. 
Webb. Promoted colonel he had command of Hoke’s 
brigade, including his regiment, at the battle of Gettys¬ 
burg, and fell mortally wounded in the attack upon Cem¬ 
etery hill on the second day. The Sixth entered the 
enemy’s works and held them for a brief space, but the 
gallant leader of the brigade, while his men were ascend¬ 
ing the hill, was shot down in an attempt to save his old 
regiment from an enfilading fire. His wound was in the 
neck, rendering him speechless. In his hand was found 
a bloody scroll, upon which he had written with evident 
effort: “Colonel Tate, tell my father that I fell with my 
face to the enemy.’’ General Early reported that the 
place of the gallant Hoke was worthily filled that day by 
Colonel Avery. “In his death the Confederacy lost a 
good and brave soldier. ’ ’ 

Colonel Samuel McDowell Tate, the last of this patri¬ 
otic trio, was born at Morgan ton, September 6, 1830, 
son of David Tate, a member of the legislature; and a 
great-grandson of David Tate, one of four brothers who 
came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania about 1790. 
He was a delegate to the national convention at Charles¬ 
ton in i860, and a prominent man before the events of 
the war. He went out with the Sixth as captain of Com¬ 
pany D, and was promoted major after the battle of 
Seven Pines. He was severely wounded at Sharpsburg, 
as lieutenant-colonel commanding, led the regiment up 
Cemetery hill, on July 2d, at Gettysburg, and after that 
was in command until the close of the war. He was sub¬ 
sequently wounded at Rappahannock bridge and at Cedar 
creek, and yet more severely in the battle of Fort Stead¬ 
man, March 25, 1865, which compelled his return to his 
home. Immediately after the close of hostilities he was 
elected president of the Western North Carolina railroad, 
with which he was prominently identified for several 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


487 


years, though removed from this office by Governor Hol¬ 
den. He was elected to the legislature in 1874, 1880, 
1882 and 1884; in 1886 was appointed examiner of national 
banks in the South Atlantic States, and afterward was 
elected treasurer of the State. He has been an earnest 
worker in the Democratic party and a delegate to every 
national convention of his party, except that of 1872, 
from and including i860. 

Lieutenant John Martin Fleming, of Raleigh, a native 
of Wake county, rendered his Confederate service in the 
Trans-Mississippi department. Two brothers repre¬ 
sented his family in the North Carolina troops: Jasper 
Fleming, now living at Milton, who served as adjutant 
of the old Fourth infantry regiment, and Dr. James R. 
Fleming, of Dunn, N. C., who was an assistant surgeon 
in Early’s division of the army of Northern Virginia. 
John Martin Fleming was bom in 1836, and after receiv¬ 
ing a preparatory education entered Randolph-Macon col¬ 
lege, Virginia, leaving there in 1856 to matriculate in 
the university of North Carolina, where he was graduated 
in 1859. He removed to Clark county, Ark., in i860, 
and was there engaged in farming when the Confederate 
States government began its struggle for a place among 
the nations of the earth. He entered the military serv¬ 
ice in the spring of 1862 as a private in an independent 
command, which became part of the Thirty-third Arkan¬ 
sas infantry, Col. H. L. Grinstead, of Shaver’s brigade, 
Parsons’ division, Hindman’s corps, of the army under 
Gen. T. H. Holmes. Soon after his enlistment he was 
elected second lieutenant of Company E of his regiment, 
the rank in which he served until honorably discharged 
on account of disability in March, 1865, just before the 
end of hostilities. During his military career he took 
part in a number of skirmishes and the engagements at 
Boston mountain and near Fayetteville, Ark. He was 
never paroled and never took the oath. Lieutenant 
Fleming remained in Arkansas until 1870, when he 
returned to his native county and engaged in farming 
and the conduct of a village store. He served as a mag¬ 
istrate from 1874 to 1883, and was then elected deputy 
warden of the State penitentiary, a position he held for 
ten years. In 1893 he was elected warden of the insti¬ 
tution for a term of four years. Since his connection 


488 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


with the penitentiary he has been a resident of Raleigh. 
In 1859 he was married to Nannie, daughter of Dr. John 
McKay, and they have three children living: Nora Belle, 
John Martin and Nannie McKay. 

Colonel George W. Flowers, of Taylorsville, a native 
of Alexander county, born in 1842, of North Carolinian 
parentage, had a noteworthy career in the Confederate 
States service, identified with that of the Thirty-eighth 
regiment, which he commanded toward the close of the 
war. He entered the service early in 1862 as second lieu¬ 
tenant of the Rocky Face Rangers, a volunteer company 
of Alexander county; on the reorganization was elected 
captain, subsequently became major, and in the summer 
of 1864 was promoted lieutenant-colonel. The Thirty- 
eighth, under command of Col. W. J. Hoke, served in 
North Carolina until the latter part of April, 1862, when 
it was assigned to Maxcy Gregg’s brigade of the army of 
Northern Virginia, and ordered to Milford Station and 
later to Fredericksburg. Then being transferred to 
Pender’s brigade, it took part in the battles between Lee 
and McClellan before Richmond, beginning at Mechan- 
icsville, where Captain Flowers was severely wounded in 
a charge upon a Federal battery. Upon his recovery he 
resumed command of his company and participated in 
the battles of Cedar Run, Manassas Junction, Second 
Manassas, Ox Hill, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Shep- 
herdstown, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. At the 
beginning of the movement to Pennsylvania he was 
taken sick and was thus disabled until after Gettysburg, 
during which period he was for a short time in command 
at Staunton. Rejoining his regiment at Hagerstown, 
he took part in the engagement at Falling Waters, and 
in the spring of 1864 was again badly wounded in the 
battle of the Wilderness. He was sent to hospital at 
Richmond and thence to Danville, and a few weeks 
later to his home, but was able to join his regiment again 
in the trenches before Petersburg, where he was on duty 
until the evacuation. He was surrendered at Appomat¬ 
tox as the commanding officer of the gallant old Thirty- 
eighth. On returning home he engaged in farming for a 
time, and then entered the mercantile business, in which 
his career has been a marked success. By his marriage in 
1870 to Sallie J. Haynes he has eight children; Robert 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


489 


L., a graduate of the United States naval academy, and 
now professor of mathematics at Trinity college, Dur¬ 
ham;. Charles E., a merchant in Montana; William W., 
superintendent of public schools at Durham; John M., 
Horace, Frederick, Claude and Estella. 

George A. Foote, of Warrenton, a prominent member 
of the medical profession of North Carolina, and distin¬ 
guished in the service of the Confederate States, was 
born in Warren county in 1835. After pursuing aca¬ 
demical and collegiate studies at Warrenton and at Rich¬ 
mond college, he was educated professionally at the 
Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia. He was a stu¬ 
dent at the latter institution when the secession of the 
Southern States began, and ardently sympathizing with 
their cause he returned home and went to Charleston, 
S. C., to offer his services, before the fall of Fort Sum¬ 
ter. After that event he enlisted at Warrenton as a pri¬ 
vate in one of the first companies of volunteers, but was at 
once ordered before the board of examiners, and was com¬ 
missioned as a surgeon. In this capacity he was assigned 
to Gen. W. W. Kirkland’s command, with whom he 
served from the first battle of Manassas until his health 
gave way in 1863. Finding the fatigues of army life 
beyond his strength, he secured an assignment to the 
navy and became surgeon of the ironclad Raleigh, which 
was lost off the coast at Wilmington. He was then 
transferred to the ram Albemarle and shared the famous 
career of that vessel to the last, being on board when she 
was blown up and sunk by Lieutenant Cushing. This 
disaster leaving the troops at Plymouth in a dangerous 
situation, surrounded by the enemy, he was ordered by 
Gen. L. S. Baker to take command there and extricate 
the garrison from their perilous position. This he suc¬ 
ceeded in doing without the loss of a man, and was 
warmly complimented by General Baker in special order 
No. 41, for the skill and gallantry with which this duty 
was performed. Subsequently he was ordered to Wil¬ 
mington and Fort Fisher, and put in charge at hospitals. 
Upon the capture of Fort Fisher, in January, 1865, after 
a terrific bombardment, he was taken prisoner, and sent 
to Governor’s island, New York harbor, where he was 
held until a few days before the surrender of General 
Lee, when he was exchanged and permitted to return to 


490 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his home. Since that momentous period he has been 
engaged in the practice of his profession at Warrenton, 
held in the highest esteem by the people of his commu¬ 
nity, and honored wherever he is known. Though twice 
offered professorships in medical institutions he has pre¬ 
ferred the active life of a practicing physician. He has 
held the positions of president of the State medical 
association and member of the State board of medical 
examiners, and is a member of the State historical 
society of Texas and a member or corresponding mem¬ 
ber of various scientific societies. He is also a valued 
comrade of John White camp, United Confederate 
Veterans, at Warrenton. By his marriage in 1863 
to Sallie J. McDowell, of Edenton, Dr. Foote has four 
children living: George M., Helen N., George A. and 
Gaston S. 

Henry A. Foote, of Warrenton, lawyer, journalist and 
Confederate veteran, was born in Warren county, Novem¬ 
ber 20, 1845. He was one of the younger soldiers of the 
great war, and did not enjoy as long a service as was 
permitted to others, but the patriotic record of his family 
was fully maintained by his four elder brothers, all of 
whom wore the gray and devoted themselves unselfishly 
to the cause of Southern independence. He enlisted in 
December, 1863, in Company F of the First engineer 
regiment, and from that time until the close of the 
struggle served as commissary-sergeant of his company. 
During his service he was with the army in the trenches 
about Petersburg, Va., and participated in the battle of 
the Crater, in which a bloody repulse was given to the 
attempt of Grant’s army to break the line of gray. He 
was with the army in the retreat to Appomattox and par¬ 
ticipated in the surrender. Then returning home he 
began preparation for his civil career and entered Wake 
Forest college, where he was graduated in 1868 with the 
first honors of his class. He then adopted law as his pro¬ 
fession and established himself in the practice at Warren¬ 
ton, where he is still devoted to the career of a lawyer. 
He has held the office of State’s attorney for the county 
for fourteen years, and during the first administration of 
President Cleveland was deputy collector of internal 
revenue for the Fourth district. Since 1872 he has 
been editor and proprietor of the Warrenton Gazette, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


491 


a record in journalism which has but one equal in the 
State. In John White camp, United Confederate 
Veterans, he holds the rank of adjutant. By his 
marriage, in 1876, to Minnie C. Young, of Wilson, Mr. 
Foote has five charming daughters, and one son, Thomas 
James. 

Josiah C. Fowler, M. D., a prominent physician of 
Wake Forest, N. C., formerly of the medical service of 
the Confederate States army, was born in Wake county 
April 8, 1830. His medical examination was obtained at 
the university of Pennsylvania, a popular professional 
school with the young men of the South in ante-war 
times, and he was graduated there in 1854. During the 
next few years he was engaged in the practice of his pro¬ 
fession in Franklin county, N. C., which he abandoned 
at the call to arms, and was called by a company from 
his owntown to come to Raleigh. In the summer of 1861 
he was appointed assistant surgeon of the Seventeenth 
North Carolina regiment. In this capacity he served 
until January, 1865, when ill health compelled his resig¬ 
nation. During the war he was with his regiment in its 
North Carolina service, and was under fire also at the 
great battle of Gettysburg, at the Wilderness and Spott- 
sylvania Court House, at Cold Harbor and Ream’s Sta¬ 
tion, and during the siege of Petersburg, faithfully min¬ 
istering to his men and sharing their dangers and priva¬ 
tions. After the close of the war and the recovery of his 
health he resumed his professional career in Franklin 
county, and remained there for fifteen years. Since 
then he has resided at Wake Forest, where he is esteemed 
as a professional man of unusual ability and reputation, 
and is valued as a citizen. By his marriage, in 1866, to 
Mary H. Hart, of Franklin county, he has one son living, 
Pettigrew Fowler, and two daughters, Rosa C., wife of 
J. L. Allen, and Columbia C., wife of W. W. Holding, 
and all reside in the vicinity of Wake Forest. 

Lieutenant William Graves Foy, a prominent business 
man of Mount Airy, N. C., was born in Surry county, 
March 26, 1845. His career in the service of the Confed¬ 
erate States, which was marked by bravery and devotion 
and suffering, was rendered in the Twenty-first regiment, 
originally the Eleventh, commanded by Col. (after- 


492 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ward general) W. W. Kirkland. He enlisted on May 21, 
1861, in Company E of this regiment, and in 1862 was 
transferred to Company C. His gallant conduct brought 
him promotion to lieutenant, and after the battle of 
Gettysburg he was appointed adjutant of the regiment. 
He reached the field of Manassas just before the famous 
victory of July 21, 1861, and participated in the pursuit 
of the routed enemy, and in the following spring fought 
in Trimble’s brigade in Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah 
Valley campaign, and then in the Seven Days’ battles 
before Richmond with Jackson’s corps. After partici¬ 
pating in the second battle of Manassas, he was detailed 
for some time as a drill-master for recruits, but was 
again in the fight at Fredericksburg, and in the follow¬ 
ing battles of Chancellorsville, Winchester, and Gettys¬ 
burg, where he was wounded in the foot. After the 
return to Virginia he was with the forces detailed for the 
North Carolina campaign, and thence was recalled to 
Petersburg, where he took part in the battle of Drewry’s 
Bluff and the defeat of Butler, and from the Cold Har¬ 
bor lines, went with Ramseur to the Shenandoah valley 
again. He marched with Early through Maryland and to 
the gates of Washington city, and later fought against 
Sheridan at Winchester and Cedar creek, in the latter 
fight receiving a wound in the face which destroyed his 
left eye, and put an end to his service for the Con¬ 
federacy. 

Captain Joseph G. Freeland, Sixth regiment North 
Carolina State troops, was born in Alamance county, 
January 16, 1838, the son of George J. Freeland, a 
planter, who served sixteen years as register of deeds. 
The father of the latter was Joseph Freeland, of the same 
county, then a part of Orange, whose brother was killed 
by a mob of Tories during the revolutionary war while in 
the discharge of his duties as county sheriff. Captain 
Freeland was a student in a high school in Guilford 
county at the beginning of the Confederate war, but 
promptly left his books, and in May, 1861, enlisted as a 
private in Company F of the Sixth North Carolina regi¬ 
ment. His services, which extended throughout the four 
years of conflict, were marked by soldierly behavior 
under all circumstances, and he steadily rose through the 
various grades to the rank of captain. During two years 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 493 

he was detailed with the sharpshooters of the Second corps. 
Four times he was found by the bullets of the enemy, 
but not seriously injured. Among his battles were First 
Manassas, Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ fighting before 
Richmond, Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, Sharps- 
burg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Winchester, 
Gettysburg, Brandy Station, Drewry’s Bluff, Hatcher’s 
Run and other battles about Petersburg. On March 25, 
1865, he was captured before Petersburg, and subsequently 
was imprisoned at Point Lookout until July, 1865. On 
returning to his native State he farmed in Alamance and 
Mecklenburg counties until 1874, when he removed to 
Charlotte and engaged in business as a merchant. In 
1893 he was appointed to his present position as janitor 
of the government building at Charlotte. Captain Free¬ 
land was married in 1866 to Nannie Whitfield, and after 
her death he was wedded in 1890 to Mrs. Fannie Steele, 
nee Black, of Florida. One son, Joseph E., was grad¬ 
uated at the Baltimore dental college, and died in that 
city in 1894. Three brothers of Captain Freeland were 
in the Confederate service, Thomas L., color-bearer of 
the Forty-ninth North Carolina regiment; George J., a 
private in the Forty-ninth North Carolina, and William 
B., who was in Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry and was wounded 
at Fort Fisher, when the latter was captured. 

James Calhoun Freeman, an influential citizen of 
Bertie county, is one of four brothers who served in the 
Confederate armies, one of them giving his life for the 
cause. He was born in the county where he now resides, 
October 5, 1831, and when he had grown to manhood, he 
there engaged in farming, which has been his life occu¬ 
pation. In April, 1862, obedient to the call of his State, 
he left his home and enlisted as a private in Company F, 
Fourth North Carolina cavalry, and was at once appointed 
orderly-sergeant of the company. He was with his 
command in its campaigns in North Carolina, in the 
fights at Franklin, Whitehall and the siege of Little 
Washington, and then going into Virginia and joining 
Stuart’s cavalry, participated in the cavalry fighting at 
Brandy Station and other encounters on the Rappahan¬ 
nock. After this he rode into Pennsylvania with Stuart 
and took a hand in the famous cavalry battle at Gettys¬ 
burg. On the retreat from that memorable field, while 


494 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


on duty guarding the wagon train of Ewell’s corps, he 
was captured by the enemy at South mountain, Md., and 
was not again permitted to join his regiment of gallant 
troopers. As a prisoner of war he was carried first to Fort 
McHenry, thence to Fort Delaware and later to Point 
Lookout, and was not released until February, 1865, 
when he was paroled. “ His innate love of his native 
State, his fealty toward the Southern cause and the well¬ 
being of the Southern people, together with the ill treat¬ 
ment and cruelties of life experienced for nearly two 
years as a prisoner of war, made it almost impossible for 
him to realize for a long time that he was a reconstructed 
Reb. ” Mr. Freeman is a popular and enterprising cit¬ 
izen, and has had the honor of serving his county thirteen 
years as a member of the board of county commissioners. 
By his marriage, in 1857, to Margaret E. Redditt, he has 
eight children: William J., Mollie H., wife of R. J. 
Shield; Joseph W., Louise J., Maggie E., Leon H., 
Laura C. and Annie M., wife of C. C. Sessoms. 

William George Freeman, M. D., of Murfreesboro, a 
veteran of the cavalry corps of the army of Northern 
Virginia, was born in Bertie county, N. C., August 19, 
1840. He was educated at Wake Forest, and then pur¬ 
sued the study of medicine at the university of Virginia 
and the university of Pennsylvania, being graduated at 
the latter institution in 1861. Sacrificing for the time 
his professional ambition on the altar of his State, he 
enlisted in the spring of 1862 as a private in the Sussex 
Light Dragoons, a cavalry organization which became 
Company H, Thirteenth Virginia cavalry, Col. J. H. 
Chambliss commanding. He served as a trooper, in all 
the operations of his regiment, in W. H. F. Lee’s bri¬ 
gade of Stuart’s cavalry, until the spring of 1864. Dur¬ 
ing this period he was wounded in a skirmish with a Fed¬ 
eral scouting party between Suffolk and Petersburg, 
which disabled him about one month, and at the battle 
of Upperville he was taken prisoner, but fortunately was 
exchanged after a short confinement at the Old Capitol 
prison. In the spring of 1864 he went before the med¬ 
ical examining board and was commissioned assistant 
surgeon, and assigned to the general hospital at Peters¬ 
burg. Thence, in the fall of 1864, he was transferred to 
Danville, where many of the sick and wounded were 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


495 


taken to avoid the Federal shells at Petersburg. He 
remained at Danville on duty until June, 1865, and then 
joined his parents at Norfolk. In January, 1866, he began 
the practice of medicine at Union, Hertford county, 
removed to Harrellsville in 1868, and since 1874 has 
made his home at Murfreesboro, N. C., where he is 
yet a successful practitioner and an esteemed citizen. 
By his marriage, in 1869, to Lucy Tyner Boone, of 
Northampton county, he has one son, George King Free¬ 
man. 

Thomas C. Fuller, a distinguished lawyer and justice 
of the United States court of private land claims, was 
born at Fayetteville, N. C., and was educated at Chapel 
Hill. After leaving the latter institution he read law 
with Chief-Justice Pearson, and began the practice at 
Fayetteville upon his admission to the bar in 1856. He 
was one of those who opposed secession until the fall of 
Fort Sumter, when he promptly offered his services to 
the State of North Carolina. In April, 1861, he became 
a member of Company F, First regiment, North Carolina 
infantry, Col. D. H. Hill, and as a private served during 
the career of this regiment, including the battle of Big 
Bethel. When the command was disbanded he and Col. 
J. B. Starr organized a company of light artillery at Fay¬ 
etteville and vicinity, which was subsequently known as 
Starr’s battery; Starr being elected captain and Fuller 
senior first lieutenant. The government not being pre¬ 
pared to equip the company with light artillery, it was 
ordered to Fort Fisher, and was there on duty with heavy 
artillery until October, 1862, when it was transferred to 
Kinston. The company served later on the interior line 
before New Bern. During his association with this com¬ 
pany Lieutenant Fuller participated in several engage¬ 
ments with gunboats on the coast, and in the fighting 
at Kinston and Goldsboro. In November, 1863, he was 
elected to the Confederate States Congress, where he 
took his seat in May, 1864, and served until the evacua¬ 
tion of Richmond. Though the youngest member of 
that famous body, he was influential and active in the 
discharge of his duties. When the Confederate govern¬ 
ment had ceased to be, he resumed his professional work 
at Fayetteville, and at the first election in 1865 was elected 
to the United States Congress by the Cape Fear district, 


496 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


but the State was not then admitted to representation. 
At the next election he was again a candidate, but his 
opponent received the certificate, under military author¬ 
ity. In 1872 he was a candidate for presidential elector 
on the Greeley ticket and made an extensive canvass. 
Subsequently, though active in political affairs, he was 
not a candidate for office, and in the spring of 1873 
removed to Raleigh, where he formed a law partnership 
with Senator A. S. Merrimon and Capt. S. A. Ashe, 
which continued unbroken until Captain Ashe entered 
the field of journalism, and Senator Merrimon was 
elected to the supreme court. He was then associated 
with George H. Snow until, upon the establishment of 
the court of private land claims, to pass upon titles 
based on Spanish and Mexican grants, he was appointed 
a justice of that court in June, 1891, upon the suggestion 
of Senator Ransom and the recommendation of the bar 
of the State. Judge Fuller is a son of Thomas Fuller, a 
native of Franklin county, whose wife was Catherine 
Raboteau, of Huguenot descent. In 1856 he married 
Caroline D., daughter of Williamson Whitehead, of Fay¬ 
etteville, and they have six children surviving. 

Henry S. Furman, of Franklinton, a survivor of the 
Fifty-fifth North Carolina infantry, was born at the town 
where he now resides, May 9, 1832. After receiving his 
education he entered business life as a traveling sales¬ 
man and was so occupied when his State seceded and 
the war between the North and South inaugurated. 
Feeling the obligations of a patriotic citizen, he volun¬ 
teered in 1862 as a private in Company I of the Fifty- 
fifth regiment, the command with which he was associ¬ 
ated during the remainder of the four years’ struggle. 
After about six months’ service in the line, his business 
experience and training were availed of by his regiment 
and he was promoted to the rank of quartermaster-ser¬ 
geant, in which capacity he rendered faithful and efficient 
service. He was with his regiment throughout its well- 
known career, and was present at the famous battle of 
Gettysburg and the fighting during the siege of Richmond 
and Petersburg, and finally was surrendered at Appo¬ 
mattox. Returning then to Franklinton he conducted 
a general store a few years, after which he embarked in 
the drug trade, in which he has been quite successful. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


497 


He was appointed postmaster at Franklinton in 1867 and 
held that office for fifteen years, also being reappointed 
in Cleveland’s first administration. By his marriage, in 
1 85 7, to Annie E. Winston, of Franklinton, he has four 
children living: Henry Otis, a traveling salesman; Luna 
Glenn, wife of Capt. R. I. Cheatham, an official of the 
Seaboard Air Line railroad at Atlanta; Eula Lee and 
Theodore Hubert. 

John Q. Gant, a prominent manufacturer of Alamance 
county, N. C., was born in 1847, a son of Jesse Gant, a 
worthy citizen of that county, which he served in differ¬ 
ent capacities for fifty years. He left school in July, 

1864, to enlist in the Confederate service and became a 
member of Company C, Fortieth regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina troops. His command was in the heavy artillery 
service, and he was first in duty with it at Fort Holmes, 
near Wilmington. After General Bragg assumed com¬ 
mand in that department his command was ordered from 
Fort Holmes to Augusta, Ga., and at the latter place 
was engaged in fortifying against the advance of Sher¬ 
man’s army. Subsequently, being ordered to Savannah, 
he was with the troops which met Sherman on the 
Georgia Central railroad and contested his advance to 
the seaboard. After the evacuation of Savannah he was 
ordered to Charleston, and about the 1st of January, 

1865, was ordered back to Fort Holmes, and resumed 
charge of the heavy guns of the fort. While at Fort 
Holmes he witnessed the bombardment of Fort Fisher 
and subsequently participated in the defense of Fort 
Anderson. At this post he had the unpleasant experi¬ 
ence of being knocked down and covered with debris by 
the explosion of a shell. The Confederate forces were 
compelled to abandon Fort Anderson, after which he was 
in the two days’ fight at Town Creek, then falling back 
through Wilmington to Sugar Loaf. Under command 
of General Hoke he fought at Jackson’s Mill, near Kins¬ 
ton, N. C., defeating the Federal column from New 
Bern and capturing 1,500 prisoners. His last battle was 
at Bentonville, N. C., after which his command was 
ordered to Smithfield and thence to Greensboro, where 
he was paroled. In 1869 Mr. Gant entered the employ¬ 
ment of the Alamance cotton mill, and six years later 
embarked in business as a merchant at Burlington. In 


498 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1880 he removed to Altamahaw, on Haw river, and 
engaged in cotton manufacturing, and is now part¬ 
ner and sole manager of the Altamahaw cotton mill. 
Mr. Gant was married, in 1879, to Corinna Morehead, 
daughter of Col. Joseph Erwin, of Morganton, N. C., 
and to them have been born eight sons and two daughters. 

Captain George H. Gardin, a prominent citizen and 
Confederate soldier of McDowell county, of which he is 
a native, was born in 1843, the son of Henry Gardin. He 
enlisted in the Confederate service on May 1, 1861, as a 
private in Company B, Twenty-second regiment, North 
Carolina troops. From the ranks he gradually rose by 
promotion, on account of gallant and faithful service, 
until in the fall of 1862 he became captain of his com¬ 
pany, the rank in which he served until the surrender of 
the army of Northern Virginia. During 1861 he served 
at Evansville, on the Potomac river; in the spring of 1862 
was on duty at Yorktown, and after the retreat of Ma- 
gruder participated in the battle of Seven Pines. During 
the campaign before Richmond under General Lee, in 
June, 1862, he was captured at Fair Oaks and thence 
carried to Washington city, where he was held as a pris¬ 
oner for six weeks. After being exchanged he rejoined 
his company at Winchester in the Shenandoah valley and 
next met the enemy at Fredericksburg. He fought 
with Jackson at Chancellorsville, being not far from the 
general at the time he was wounded, and at Gettysburg 
participated in the gallant charges of his regiment on the 
first and third days of the battle. During the bloody 
struggles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House 
and Cold Harbor, he was identified with the gallant 
record of General Scales’ North Carolina brigade. He 
served on the Petersburg lines throughout the fall and win¬ 
ter of 1864, and in the spring of 1865 participated in the 
battle of Five Forks and the skirmishes of the retreat to 
Appomattox, where he was paroled. Upon his return 
to North Carolina he engaged in farming, which is still 
his occupation. He has had a prominent official career 
in the county, serving, from 1874, two years as treas¬ 
urer; in 1881 as representative in the legislature; in the 
same office again in 1885, and from 1890 to 1897 as sher¬ 
iff of the county. Pie was married in 1866 to Ellen F., 
daughter of Alexander Tate. She died in 1894, leaving 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


499 


seven children: Anna Laura, wife of G. W. Connally; 
Martha H., wife of Maj. A. Connally; Alice, wife of 
George C. Connally; Jennie V., wife of George Carson; 
Rebecca, wife of Dr. J. O. Simmons; Etta and Maude. 

McDuffie Geddie, of Fayetteville, N. C., was born in 
Cumberland county, January 23, 1843. His father, John 
Geddie, and his grandfather, of the same name, were 
natives of Cumberland county, of Irish descent; his 
mother, Janet, was the daughter of Abram Gainey, also 
a native of Cumberland. His occupation was that of a 
farmer, when the State seceded and her sons were called 
upon to defend the State and uphold the Confederacy. 
He enlisted in 1862 in the company of Captain Sloan, 
Company I, Fifty-first regiment, North Carolina State 
troops, as a private, and his subsequent service was ren¬ 
dered mainly in North Carolina and in Clingman’s bri¬ 
gade in Virginia. He participated in a number of bat¬ 
tles and skirmishes as a true and valiant soldier. Called 
to Virginia for the defense of Richmond and Petersburg, 
in May, 1864, he had hardly met the enemy when, in the 
fighting near Drewry’s bluff, on the 16th, he was cap¬ 
tured on the picket line, which ended his service on the 
field. He was subsequently confined at Point Lookout, 
Md., until paroled in March, 1865. At the time of his 
capture he had risen by virtue of bravery and meritori¬ 
ous conduct from private to the rank of orderly-sergeant 
of his company. Since the war he has been engaged in* 
farming, has been fortunate in his undertakings, and is 
one of the influential men of Cumberland county. In 
1895 he was elected for a term of four years as sheriff of 
the county, an honor well deserved. Mr. Geddie was 
married, in December, 1866, to Mary C. Williams. Their 
children are Ida J., Hattie O., Crosby, Jasper, Lusie, 
Isabella and Blanche. 

Captain John Eli Gilmer, a prominent wholesale mer¬ 
chant of Winston, N. C., born in Guilford county, Au¬ 
gust 4, 1841, served with distinction as an officer of the 
Twenty-first regiment, North Carolina troops. He 
entered the service of the State with the volunteer 
organization, known as the Guilford Dixie Boys, in the 
spring of 1861, and his company, being assigned to the 
Eleventh regiment of volunteers, then the title of Col- 

Nc 55 


500 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


onel Kirkland’s command, lie went to the front in Vir¬ 
ginia and had his first experience in battle at First Ma¬ 
nassas. When Ewell’s division marched to support 
Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah valley, he accom¬ 
panied his regiment and shared the famous fighting of 
Trimble’s brigade at Front Royal, Winchester, Strasburg 
and Cross Keys. He was with Jackson when he crossed 
Virginia and struck McClellan’s right flank, making pos¬ 
sible the victories of the Seven Days before Richmond, 
and continued under the leadership of that great com¬ 
mander at Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry and Sharps- 
burg. After this battle he was promoted to captain 
of his company, having previously held the rank of 
first lieutenant. At the battle of Fredericksburg he was 
severely wounded in the side by a grapeshot, and in con¬ 
sequence was disabled and at home for twelve months. 
On having apparently recovered he served with Hoke at 
Plymouth and New Bern, and with Early in the Shen¬ 
andoah Valley campaign of 1864, but after the battle of 
Winchester was honorably discharged on account of the 
disability caused by his wound. After the war he resided 
at Greensboro until 1873, and since then at Winston, 
where he is one of the leaders in business. 

Samuel Jefferson Ginnings, a leading merchant of 
Wilkesboro, who rendered his Confederate service as a 
member of the First regiment, North Carolina troops, 
was born in Surry county, January 3, 1827. His resi¬ 
dence at Wilkesboro dates from 1852, where he was 
engaged in business until the first alarm of war, when 
he went to Charleston and heard the first gun fired at 
Fort Sumter. He was interested in the organization of 
the First regiment, enlisted as a member of Company B, 
and later was appointed regimental commissary. He 
accompanied the command to Virginia and took part in 
the Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond, in which 
Colonel Stokes was killed. Here he was captured, and 
being taken to Fort Delaware was confined for several 
weeks. After he rejoined his regiment he was taken 
sick with fever and was disabled for some time. Then, 
joining his command again, he took part in the battle of 
Fredericksburg and the subsequent service of his regi¬ 
ment, holding the position of sutler. At the battle of 
the ’Wilderness, in May, 1864, he was shot through the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


501 


right leg, a serious wound which prevented further active 
service, although he was with Cox’s brigade during the 
Shenandoah Valley campaign of that year, and was on 
the Petersburg lines during the siege, acting in the com¬ 
missary department, until just before the evacuation, 
when he made his way to Danville and thence to his 
home. He has since been engaged in mercantile pur¬ 
suits, except four years of service as sheriff of the county. 

John J. Gormley, who has been a citizen and identified 
with important enterprises at Charlotte since the great 
war, was bom at Norfolk, Va., July 17, 1845. He is the 
son of John Gormley, who was born on the ocean while 
his parents were coming to America from Ireland, 
became a merchant at Norfolk and married Hannah, 
daughter of Rev. James Mitchell, of the Baptist min¬ 
istry. He was educated in the Norfolk military acad¬ 
emy, but left his books before he was sixteen years of 
age to enlist in Company D, Fourth battalion of Virginia 
artillery, commanded by Capt. Frank Huger, son of Gen¬ 
eral Huger. With this organization he took part in the 
battles of Seven Pines, Frayser’s Farm, Malvern Hill, 
Second Manassas, White Sulphur Springs, Harper’s 
Ferry and Sharpsburg, in the latter engagement receiving 
a wound that prevented further duty on the field. After 
his recovery he was assigned to the commissary and 
quartermaster’s department in North Carolina and sta¬ 
tioned at Charlotte, where he remained after the war 
came to an end. For more than twenty years afterward 
he was engaged in railroad work, beginning as a freight 
conductor on the Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford 
road, advancing to the positions of passenger conductor 
and master of transportation on the Charlotte & South 
Carolina, and finally serving as superintendent of the 
Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio road. Upon the establish¬ 
ment of the Ada cotton mills, in 1885, he was appointed 
secretary and treasurer, a position he held for nine years. 
In 1896 he accepted his present position, cashier of the 
Charlotte machine company. He is a member of the 
Mecklenburg camp, U. C. V. November 16, 1870, lie 
married Sarah E., daughter of Hon. William F. David¬ 
son, of Charlotte, and granddaughter of William David¬ 
son, first member of Congress from the Charlotte district. 
They have five children. 


502 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major John W. Graham, of Hillsboro, a distinguished 
jurist, was born in Orange county, N. C., July 22, 1838. 
His father was a well-known North Carolina statesman, 
William A. Graham, United States senator and secretary 
of the navy; and his mother was Susan, daughter of 
John Washington, of Virginia, and a lineal descendant of 
Lawrence Washington. Major Graham was educated at 
Wilson’s academy, studied at Georgetown during his 
father’s service in the cabinet, and in 1857 was gradu¬ 
ated at the university of North Carolina. He remained 
at that institution until i860, serving as an instructor in 
Latin and mathematics, and taking the degrees of A. M. 
and LL. B. He had hardly entered upon the practice 
of law when he answered the call of his State and 
entered the military service on April 20, 1861, as second 
lieutenant in the Orange Guards. This company was 
assigned to the Twenty-seventh regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina troops, and in the following June he was detailed as 
aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. R. C. Gatlin. In 
March, 1862, he organized Company D of the Fifty-sixth 
regiment, was elected captain, and in September, 1863, 
was promoted major, in which rank he was identified 
with the record of the Fifty-sixth until the close of the 
war. He participated in the campaigns in eastern North 
Carolina and on the Blackwater river; was on duty in 
defense of Richmond during the Gettysburg campaign; 
served in Ransom’s brigade on the Weldon railroad; 
took part in the battle of Kinston, and Pickett’s expe¬ 
dition against New Bern, and was distinguished for gal¬ 
lantry in the assault at Plymouth under command of Gen¬ 
eral Hoke. Subsequently he shared the gallant record of 
his regiment and brigade in the battles about Drewry’s 
bluff, which resulted in the bottling up of Butler at Ber¬ 
muda Hundred; and took part in the three days’ battles 
before Petersburg, where on the third day he was 
severely wounded in the right arm. After his recovery 
he served in the trenches until March 25, 1865, when he 
participated in the famous sortie of Gordon’s corps and 
was shot through both thighs. His wounds were severe 
and dangerous, and after the evacuation he was left at 
Petersburg, whence he was unable to leave for his home 
until the following June. As soon as his strength was 
somewhat restored he again opened his law office at 
Hillsboro, and being elected solicitor of Orange county 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


503 


court, served as such during the years 1866, 1867 and 
part of 1868. He was one of the thirteen members of 
the Democratic constitutional convention of 1868, and 
was elected to the State senate of 1868 and 1869, where 
he rendered important service in the interests of the 
people. In the legislature of 1870-72 he was also a con¬ 
spicuous member, and in 1872, as candidate for State 
treasurer, shared the defeat of his party’s ticket. In 
1876-77 he was a member of the State senate and one of 
the leaders in that body. In 1886 he was chairman of 
the State board of commissioners to revise the tax system 
of the State, and in the fall of the same year was honored 
by the Democratic nomination for Congress. Since 1875 
he has been a member of the executive committee of the 
university of North Carolina, and for many years was 
the trustee of the sinking fund of the North Carolina 
railroad. His career as a lawyer has been one of distinc¬ 
tion and honor. In 1867 he was married to Rebecca, 
daughter of Paul C. Cameron and granddaughter of 
Chief Justice Ruffin, who died in 1883, leaving six chil¬ 
dren: Paul C., George N., William A., Joseph, Isabella, 
wife of Thomas Webb, and Anna Cameron. By his 
marriage in 1887 to Miss M. F. Bailey, of Tallahassee, 
Fla., he has one son, Alexander H. 

Captain Joseph Graham, of Charlotte, N. C., born at 
New Bern, April 15, 1837, is one of nine sons of the 
famous statesman, William A. Graham, five of whom 
served in the Confederate States army. The father was 
born in Lincoln county in 1804, was graduated at Chapel 
Hill, became prominent as a lawyer at Hillsboro; served 
in the State legislature, 1833 to 1840, several terms as 
speaker of the house; was United States senator, 1840 to 
1 843; governor of the State, 1844 to 1848; secretary of 
the navy under President Fillmore, and candidate for 
vice-president with General Scott in 1852. After further 
service in the State senate he was elected Confederate 
States senator in 1864, and at the time of his death, in 
1875, was one of the trustees of the Peabody fund, and 
one of the Maryland and Virginia boundary commission¬ 
ers. Senator Graham’s father, Joseph Graham, held the 
rank of major in the revolutionary army. Captain Gra¬ 
ham was graduated by the university of North Carolina 
in 1857, and by the Jefferson medical college, Philadel- 


504 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


phia, in 1859. Returning to Hillsboro, in October, 1859, 
he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Blount Hill, 
and in January, i860, began the practice of his profession 
at Charlotte. This promising career and the delights of 
home he abandoned on the day of the passage of the 
ordinance of secession, May 20, 1861, and enlisted as 
third lieutenant in a company of light artillery which he 
had assisted in organizing. This was known as Brem’s, 
and later as Graham’s, battery, and was assigned to the 
Tenth North Carolina regiment, light artillery. He was 
promoted through the grades of second and first lieuten¬ 
ant to that of captain, receiving the latter rank in July, 
1862, and he continued to serve in this capacity in North 
Carolina and Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, until 
the spring of 1864. During his career as an artillery 
officer he took a not inconspicuous part in the battles 
of New Bern, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Bristoe Station, 
Drewry’s Bluff, and other engagements. He was then 
commissioned surgeon, C. S. A., and discharged the 
duties of that rank until the close of the struggle. Sub¬ 
sequently, after practicing in Gaston county, N. C., three 
years, he began his long and honorable career as a med¬ 
ical practitioner at Charlotte. He has been a member of 
the State board of examiners and board of health, a val¬ 
ued member of various professional societies, and presi¬ 
dent of the State medical association. He also maintains 
a membership in the Mecklenburg camp, Confederate 
veterans. By his marriage, previously mentioned, two 
children are living: Dr. William A. Graham, Jr., and 
Mrs. George Fitzsimmons. 

William Alexander Graham, of Oxford, N. C., was 
born at Vesuvius Furnace, Lincoln county, N. C., Sep¬ 
tember 5, 1804, son of Joseph Graham, who left the 
county of Down, Ireland, in 1737, and settled in Chester 
county, Pa., and died there. He was married twice, and 
his widow, with the younger children, removed to Meck¬ 
lenburg county, N. C., shortly before the revolutionary 
war. Here their sons, John, George and Joseph, took an 
active part in the struggle, and "Joseph, at the age of 
nineteen, rose to the rank of major. He was wounded 
seven times and left for dead in the skirmish at Charlotte 
with the advance guard of Lord Cornwallis, but recovered 
and fought to the end of the war. He married Isabella, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


505 


the daughter of John Davidson, one of the signers of the 
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, on May 20, 
1 775 » an d William Alexander was their seventh son. He 
was educated at the university of North Carolina, settled 
at Hillsboro, in the county of Orange, was member of 
the legislature many times, speaker of the house of com¬ 
mons, State senator, United States senator, 1841 to 1844; 
governor of North Carolina, 1844 to 1849; secretary of 
the navy under President Fillmore, candidate for vice- 
president with General Scott, member of the secession 
convention in 1861, State senator, 1861 to 1863; Confeder¬ 
ate States senator, 1863 to 1865; elected to the United 
States senate in 1866, but was not allowed to take his seat; 
member of board of Peabody trustees, elected to State 
convention of 1875, and was arbitrator on the disputed 
boundary line between Virginia and Maryland at the 
time of his death, at Saratoga, N. Y., August 11, 1875. 
As secretary of the navy he projected and organized the 
expedition under Commodore Perry to Japan, and 
another, under Lieutenant Henderson, to the valley of 
the Amazon. Senator Graham married, June 8, 1836, 
Miss Susannah Sarah, daughter of John Washington, a 
merchant of New Bern, N. C., and by her had ten chil¬ 
dren. Five sons of Senator Graham served in the North 
Carolina troops in the Confederate army: Dr. Joseph 
Graham, of Charlotte, captain of artillery in the Tenth 
North Carolina, who opened the great artillery duel 
preceding the assault on the third day at Gettysburg; 
John W. Graham, of Hillsboro, N. C., major of the 
Fifty-sixth regiment, North Carolina troops, wounded 
in the arm in front of Petersburg, and desperately 
wounded in both thighs at Hare’s Hill, March 25, 
1865; William A. Graham, captain of Company K, 
Nineteenth regiment, North Carolina cavalry, wounded 
at Gettysburg and promoted to assistant adjutant-gen¬ 
eral of North Carolina; James A. Graham, captain of 
Company G, Twenty-seventh regiment, wounded at 
Sharpsburg and Chancellorsville; and Robert I. D. 
Graham, captain of Company D, Fifty-sixth regiment, 
wounded at Hare’s Hill, March 25, 1865. Dr. George W. 
Graham, the sixth son, was graduated at the university 
of North Carolina and at Bellevue college, N. Y., and 
settled in Charlotte, where he enjoys a lucrative practice. 
Augustus Washington Graham, born June 9, 1849, as all 


506 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his brothers, graduated at the university of North Caro¬ 
lina, studied law under his father, and was licensed to 
practice in June, 1872; was secretary of the board of arbi¬ 
tration which determined the boundary line between 
Maryland and Virginia, was tendered appointment as 
secretary of civil service commission, but declined; was 
tendered chief of one of the bureaus in the treasury 
department in Washington in 1886, but declined; elected 
State senator in 1885; in 1895 was appointed judge of the 
superior court of North Carolina and declined a renomi¬ 
nation in 1897. In 1876 he married Miss Lucy A., 
daughter of James H. Horner, the founder of the famous 
Horner school at Oxford. Susan Washington, the only 
daughter of Senator Graham, married Judge Walter 
Clark, associate justice of the supreme court of North 
Carolina, who is at this time the best known of all North 
Carolina statesmen. Their eldest son, David, served as 
captain in the Second North Carolina regiment, United 
States volunteers, in the recent war with Spain. 

Captain Nathan G. Grandy, of Elizabeth City, was born 
in Camden county, N. C., September 2, 1838. At the 
beginning of hostilities, in 1861, he was active in the 
support of his State, and having taken a prominent part 
in the organization of a militia company in Camden 
county, where he was then engaged in farming, he was 
elected captain. He served in command of this organi¬ 
zation about twelve months, and was then elected captain 
of a vidette company, organized for scouting purposes 
and outpost duty, to observe the movements of the 
enemy on the Pasquotank river, between Roanoke island 
and Elizabeth City. After the battle of Sawyer’s Lane 
and the evacuation of Norfolk, that portion of North 
Carolina was overrun by the Federal forces, and Captain 
Grandy then became a member of an independent organi¬ 
zation formed for the purpose of guarding the citizens 
and property from the depredations of a band of out¬ 
laws known as the “Buffalos. ” He gave about a year to 
this service and then engaged in blockade running, sup¬ 
plying the Confederate government with provisions and 
other supplies through the Federal lines. His service 
throughout was one of adventure and danger, ending 
finally by parole at Norfolk in May, 1865. After the 
close of hostilities he was made provisional sheriff of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 507 

Camden county, and, being elected to the same office by 
the people, held it until September, 1868. From then 
until the fall of 1877 he was in the commission business 
at Norfolk, and subsequently he conducted a store at 
Camden. In June, 1884, he was elected county commis¬ 
sioner, but never qualified, being elected sheriff in the 
fall. In August, 1885, he resigned the latter office to 
accept appointment under President Cleveland’s admin¬ 
istration as deputy collector of internal revenue. In 
August,. 1890, he made his home at Elizabeth City, 
where, since that time, he has been quite successful as a 
broker and commission merchant. He was elected sheriff 
of Pasquotank county in 1898, on the Democratic ticket, 
the first time the county has gone Democratic since the 
war. Captain Grandy was married in 1859 to Mary G. 
Taylor, of Camden county, and they have two children 
living: Charles Taylor, who was graduated at the univer¬ 
sity of North Carolina and is now connected with the 
New York Journal, and Lillie Gregory, who was gradu¬ 
ated at Hollands, Va., and is one of the instructors at 
the Oxford female seminary. 

Colonel Bazillia Yancey Graves, of Mount Airy, a dis¬ 
tinguished veteran of the North Carolina troops, is a 
native of Surry county, born October 10, 1835. On the 
day that the North Carolina convention voted to unite 
the State with the Confederacy, he offered his military 
services to the State, and, having been active in the for¬ 
mation of a volunteer company, was commissioned cap¬ 
tain. This became Company C of the regiment of Col. 
W. W. Kirkland, first known as the Eleventh, and after 
the reorganization as the Twenty-first regiment. He 
was present with his command under fire on the right, in 
Bonham’s brigade, during the first battle of Manassas, 
and took part in the pursuit of the defeated foe. In 
Trimble’s brigade he participated in the Shenandoah 
Valley campaign with Stonewall Jackson, sharing the 
gallant service of that famous brigade on Cross Keys and 
other fields in the valley, and afterward took part in the 
Seven Days’ battles and Jackson’s Manassas campaign, 
including Slaughter’s Mountain, Second Manassas, the 
capture of Manassas Junction, and Chantilly. He was 
wounded in the leg in the battles before Richmond, again 
at Chantilly, and in another engagement a ball struck 


508 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


his right arm and passed through the shoulder-blade. 
Gangrene resulted, and he was disabled and suffered 
greatly for eight months. This ended his service in the 
field, during which he had been promoted on account of 
gallant service through the grade of major to that of 
lieutenant-colonel. At the close of the war he was on 
duty as a collector of revenue in Surry county. Subse¬ 
quently he engaged in various mercantile operations, 
mainly trading in tobacco, until the administration of 
President Cleveland, when he served four years as post¬ 
master at Mount Airy. Since then, until October, 1897, 
he has been in the warehouse business. He has now 
retired from business. 

Colonel Wharton J. Green, a distinguished citizen of 
North Carolina, was born at St. Mark’s, Fla., February 
28, 1831, son of Gen. Thomas J. Green and Sarah A., 
daughter of Jesse Wharton, of Nashville, Tenn. His 
father, the son of Solomon Green, of Warren county, 
and grandson of William Green, of Virginia, was distin¬ 
guished as a statesman and soldier. After serving in the 
legislatures of North Carolina and Florida, General 
Green took part in the struggle for Texas independence, 
serving from the battle of San Jacinto to the time of 
annexation. He was made a brigadier-general in the 
army of the young republic, and had the custody of Santa 
Anna whilst a prisoner of war. He was second in com¬ 
mand of the Mier expedition, and being captured was 
confined in the castle of Perote, between the City of 
Mexico and Vera Cruz, until he and seven adventurous 
comrades made their escape after eleven months’ impris¬ 
onment by cutting through a seven-foot wall. Subse¬ 
quently he served as a member of Congress from Texas, 
and was a State senator in the first legislature of Califor¬ 
nia. Returning to his native county toward the close of 
this adventurous life, he died in 1863. He published a 
history of the Mier expedition in 1845. Jesse Wharton, 
maternal grandfather of Colonel Green, served in the 
United States Senate from Tennessee, as also did another, 
but more remote, kinsman, Nathaniel Macon, from North 
Carolina. In childhood, after the death of his mother, 
Colonel Green was placed in the care of his uncle, Joseph 
P. Wharton, of Lebanon, Tenn., where he was reared to 
the age of fourteen years. He was educated at George- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


509 


town college, D. C., at Lovejoy’s military academy, 
North Carolina, at a select school near Boston, and 
for three years he was a cadet at the United States 
military academy. After reading law at the university 
of Virginia and later at Cumberland university, he was 
admitted to practice before the United States supreme 
court in 1855, but soon afterward decided not to further 
pursue that profession. He resided two years in San 
Antonio, Tex., and then, returning to Warren county, 
devoted his attention to the care of his plantation. In 
1858 he married Esther S. Ellery, and during the follow¬ 
ing year traveled with his bride in Europe. At the out¬ 
break of the war he enlisted as a private in the Warren 
Guards, the first company that went into the camp of 
instruction at Raleigh, under the call of the governor. 
This was mustered in as Company C of the Second regi¬ 
ment volunteers, later known as the Twelfth, and was 
ordered to Norfolk. While there in camp Private Green 
received authority from Brig.-Gen. Henry A. Wise to 
raise a regiment for his legion. He immediately entered 
upon this work, and when eight companies had reported 
to him, he was ordered, with the rank of lieutenant-colo¬ 
nel, to report at Wilmington, then commanded by Gen. 
J. R. Anderson, and thence was sent to Roanoke island, 
threatened by the Federal expedition. He reached there 
with his command on the morning of the second day of 
the fight, and when it was virtually ended; but, making 
a vigorous protest against the contemplated surrender, 
he was ordered to advance to meet General Burnside’s 
force, with promise of support. Colonel Green’s battal¬ 
ion repulsed the advance of the enemy and was in line of 
battle when a white flag passed from the rear, and he was 
told that the island had been surrendered. In this brief 
skirmish the Second battalion, under his command, lost 
heavily than any other command during the two days’ more 
fight. He was paroled about three weeks later, with his 
men. On being exchanged he was ordered to Richmond 
to reorganize his command, and was assigned to the bri¬ 
gade of Gen. Junius Daniel. Under the re-election law 
he was not chosen as commander, whereupon he volun¬ 
teered as aide-de-camp on the staff of General Daniel, 
and was for some time associated with the career of that 
gallant officer. While on duty in North Carolina he was 
wounded by a fragment of shell at Fort Hill, near Wash- 


510 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ington, and while with General Daniel he was again 
severely wounded in the fight of Rodes’ division on the 
first day of Gettysburg, at the time of the charge in 
which General Reynolds, of the Federal army, was killed. 
During the retreat he was captured by Kilpatrick’s cav¬ 
alry, and after being imprisoned for a time at Fort Dela¬ 
ware, was transferred to Johnson’s island, where he was 
detained until a few days previous to the evacuation of 
Petersburg. As soon as President Davis heard of Colo¬ 
nel Green’s return from prison, he sent into Congress his 
nomination as brigadier-general, but in the confusion it 
was not acted upon. This was so stated to Colonel Green 
at Beauvoir by the President a few weeks previous to his 
death, in the presence of his wife and daughter, Miss 
Winnie. Since the war he has devoted himself mainly 
to the care of his plantation and of the famous Tokay 
vineyard, which he acquired in 1879. He was a delegate 
to the Democratic national conventions of 1868, 1872 and 
1876, and in the latter year was presidential elector. He 
represented with marked ability the Third congressional 
district in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth congresses. 
By his first marriage Colonel Green has three children 
living: Sarah Wharton, wife of Pembroke James, of 
Wilmington; Adaline C. and Mabel E. Some years 
after the death of his first wife he was married to the 
widow of Judge David Davis, former president of the 
United States Senate and justice of the supreme court. 
Colonel Green was ever an advocate of the doctrine of 
State rights of the strictest school, and consequently 
espoused from the start, and long anterior, the move¬ 
ment in favor of secession. His views as to its right 
have never changed. 

William Henry Green, of Wilmington, now a successful 
business man, is a survivor of the famous Latham bat¬ 
tery, a North Carolina artillery organization which dem¬ 
onstrated its efficiency and bravery on many noted fields 
during the four years’ war. He was born at New Bern in 
1843, and entered the service as a private in the Branch 
artillery, Capt. A. C. Latham, in July, 1862. In the 
following year he was detailed as sergeant-major of the 
battalion of Maj. J. C. Haskell, to which Latham’s bat¬ 
tery was attached, and he served in this capacity during the 
remainder of the war. He had an active career as an 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 511 

artilleryman, participating in the famous Virginia bat¬ 
tles .of Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Chantilly, Warrenton 
Springs, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, where the battery 
was in action three days, Spottsylvania, Second Cold 
Harbor, and throughout the siege of Petersburg and the 
retreat to Appomattox, where he was paroled. After 
his return to North Carolina he made a beginning in the 
profession of pharmacy at New Bern, and continued his 
studies and practice at New York city, where he was grad¬ 
uated in 1869. In 1870 he embarked in business at Wil¬ 
mington as proprietor of a drugstore, which he has since 
conducted with much success. In 1880 he was president 
of the North Carolina board of pharmacy, and from 
1880 to 1884 was president of the State pharma¬ 
ceutical association. He was married in 1875 to 
Frances Iredell, daughter of Thomas D. Meares, of 
Wilmington, and they have five children living: Fanny 
M., Thomas M., Charles F., Jane I., and Mary O. 
Green. A brother of Sergeant Green, Charles C. Green, 
also a member of Latham’s battery, served throughout 
the war in the rank of sergeant, and was wounded at 
New Bern. He died in August, 1895. 

John Tillery Gregory, of Halifax, N. C., was born in 
Northampton county, February 11, 1832. His father 
was a son of James Gregory and Mary Wynns, of Gates 
county, and his mother was a daughter of Maj. John 
Tillery, Sr., and Mary Sylvester. He was reared in the 
family of his mother’s brother, Maj. John Tillery, a 
wealthy planter of Halifax county, who bestowed upon 
him a tender care and an excellent education. Leaving 
school at the age of twenty, he became a salesman in a 
mercantile establishment at Halifax, and after gaining a 
thorough business training, he became a partner of the 
late W. W. Daniel, founding a business which was contin¬ 
ued successfully for a considerable number of years. He 
was a member of the Halifax light infantry, a well-drilled 
and fully-equipped volunteer company, commanded by 
Capt. James H. Whittaker, and with this company he 
left Halifax for the seat of war in April, 1861. While in 
camp at Raleigh he was elected one of the sergeants, the 
company becoming Company F of the Second regiment 
of volunteers, Col. Sol Williams. Later the regiment 
was known as the Twelfth State troops and was com- 


512 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

manded by Col. B. 0 . Wade; the light infantry becom¬ 
ing Company G. The city of Norfolk, Va., being at that 
time threatened, the old Second, being one of the first 
regiments called into service from North Carolina, was 
assigned to that field and remained there on picket duty 
at Sewell’s point and other places until the evacuation. 
At the reorganization, while in camp near Norfolk, Ser¬ 
geant Gregory was elected lieutenant, and he continued 
in that rank with his company until just after the battle 
of Cold Harbor, 1862, when Colonel Wade approached 
him on the battlefield and said: “Lieutenant Gregory, 
we have had a hard and bloody fight. We have routed 
the enemy and gained a glorious victory. I have been 
very close to you and your company in this big fight. 
The regiment is now without an adjutant and must have 
one at once. For your meritorious conduct on the bat¬ 
tlefield, I now appoint you adjutant of the regiment. 
You can enter on duty at once.” At the close of the 
war Lieutenant Gregory’s commission as adjutant ranked 
among the oldest in the army of Northern Virginia. His 
old company, the Halifax light infantry, became a battle- 
scarred command and had an honorable record in the 
many hotly-contested battles of the army. It suffered 
terribly at Hanover Junction, in the Seven Days’ battles, 
at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and 
Spottsylvania Court House. In the latter fight Adju¬ 
tant Gregory was captured and carried, with about 3,000 
others taken at the bloody angle, to Point Lookout, and 
thence to Fort Delaware. There he was not released 
until June 7, 1865, after an imprisonment of twelve 
months and twenty-five days. On returning home he 
resumed his place in business and continued so until the 
firm was dissolved in 1867. His career as a public officer 
began in April, 1855, when he was appointed clerk of the 
superior court of Halifax county. After the war, No¬ 
vember, 1865, he was elected clerk of the court of pleas 
and quarter-sessions of his county, and he held this office 
from February, 1866, until the office was abolished in 
1868. In the latter year he was elected clerk of the 
superior court, and he served as such until December, 
1894, when he retired from official life, after an honora¬ 
ble career of more than thirty-two years. He has also 
served for sixteen years as secretary of the local lodge of 
the Masonic order. By his marriage to Ellen Augusta, 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


513 


daughter of Edwin T. Clarke, Mr. Gregory has nine chil¬ 
dren living: Mary Maud, wife of Mr. J. F. Crocker, of 
Portsmouth, Va., Jesse Woodland, Elizabeth Clarke, 
Edwin Clarke, John Tillery, Jr., Julia Genevieve, Quen¬ 
tin, Fletcher Harrison and Arthur Wynns. 

Richard K. Gregory, M. D., a prominent physician of 
Greensboro, N. C., was, at the outbreak of the war of 
the Confederacy, an assistant surgeon in the United 
States army and stationed in California. But his sympa¬ 
thies were with the South in the impending struggle, 
and, as soon as hostilities began, he mailed his resignation 
to Washington and started for his home in Richmond, 
Va. Proceeding thence to the then seat of the Confed¬ 
erate government, at Montgomery, Ala., he offered his 
services and was commissioned a surgeon in the Confed¬ 
erate States army. He served in the field three years 
and was then ordered to take charge of the general hos¬ 
pital at Charlotte, where he was on duty until the close 
of the war. Subsequently he was again in the United 
States service as surgeon of the Fourth heavy artillery, 
but in 1872 resigned his commission and made his resi¬ 
dence at Greensboro, where he has practiced as a physi¬ 
cian to the present time with much success. 

Lieutenant Hugh A. Grey, at the time of his death 
holding the position of supervisor of education of Meck¬ 
lenburg county, and a former officer of the Forty-eighth 
regiment, North Carolina State troops, was born in that 
county November 20, 1835. He was the son of Capt. 
William Grey, of the State militia, whose grandfather, 
William Grey, emigrated from the north of Ireland to 
Pennsylvania and thence to Mecklenburg county, just 
after the war of the revolution. William Grey, father 
of H. A. Grey, married Jane E., daughter of Thomas 
Rea, whose father, Andrew Rea, was a courier with Gen. 
Nathaniel Greene. Her mother was Elizabeth, daughter 
of Hugh Rogers, a revolutionary soldier. Both Andrew 
Rea and Hugh Rogers were members of the Mecklenburg 
convention. Lieutenant Grey was educated at Providence 
academy and Davidson college, and in 1855 first engaged 
in his life work as a teacher. In February, 1862, he vol¬ 
unteered from Union county in the company of Capt. 
(afterward colonel) S. H. Walkup, which became Com- 


514 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


pany F of the Forty-eighth regiment. He enlisted forty- 
five men for the company and was elected second lieuten¬ 
ant in March, 1862. Joining the army before Richmond, 
he took part in the exhausting Seven Days’ battles, and 
was afterward disabled by illness for three months. He 
then returned to his company and commanded it in the 
battle of Fredericksburg, in which every officer of his 
regiment but one was killed or wounded. He received 
a serious wound in the left shoulder from a sharpshooter, 
which kept him in the hospital four months at Richmond 
and Petersburg, after which he was sent home on fur¬ 
lough. He twice attempted to resume service with the 
army, but was prevented by his wound, which refused to 
heal, and prevented the use of his arm. Finally, in 
June, 1864, he resigned and entered the civil service of 
the Confederate States. From 1878 until his death 
Lieutenant Grey was continuously devoted to educa¬ 
tional work, for seven years as principal of the Hopewell 
academy, from 1885 to 1897 as principal of the Hunters¬ 
ville high school, during 1895-97 as county school exam¬ 
iner, and afterward as supervisor of education. By his 
marriage, in 1856, to Jane McCullough Parks, deceased, 
and, in 1885, to Martha A. McMurray, he has seven chil¬ 
dren living: William R., Hugh A., Jr., Lula J., Charles 
L., John H., and Matte McMurray. The sons, except 
the youngest, Matte M., now ten years old, are all grad¬ 
uates of Davidson college, the first a graduate also of 
Johns Hopkins university and professor of Latin and 
French at Davidson. John H. is a pastor of the Presbyte¬ 
rian church at Woodruff, S. C. 

Captain Samuel A. Grier, a prominent physician of 
Harrisburg and a veteran of the First volunteers and 
the Fifth cavalry, was born in Mecklenburg county, Octo¬ 
ber 8, 1841. He is the son of Andrew Grier, for many 
years chairman of the county court of Mecklenburg and 
representative in the legislature, and Margaret Barrin¬ 
ger, a descendant of Gen. Paul Barringer. He was edu¬ 
cated at Still Creek academy and Melville high school, 
and had begun the study of medicine when Sumter fell 
and the North and South flew to arms. Promptly volun¬ 
teering as a soldier, he became a private in the Hornet 
Rifles, of Charlotte, which was mustered in for six 
months’ service as Company B of the First regiment vol- 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


515 


unteers, Col. D. H. Hill. At the expiration of that serv¬ 
ice he joined Company F, Fifth North Carolina cavalry, 
and. was promoted to lieutenant of Company D, same 
regiment, and to captain early in 1865. His brother, 
P. B. Grier, remained with the old regiment, reorgan¬ 
ized as the Eleventh, was promoted lieutenant and was 
killed at Bristoe Station. Captain Grier shared the serv¬ 
ice of his regiment under Stuart, W. H. F. Lee and 
Hampton, fought at Brandy Station June, 1863, was 
badly wounded at Upperville and again severely wounded 
in the fight at Belfield, under General Barringer, while 
opposing Hancock’s movement against the railroad com¬ 
munications of Petersburg. At Namozine church, April 
3, 1865, he was captured and was subsequently held as a 
prisoner at the Old Capitol and at Johnson’s island until 
paroled in June, 1865. After his return to Charlotte he 
engaged in farming until 1878, when he resumed the 
study of medicine and was graduated at Jefferson medi¬ 
cal college, Philadelphia, in 1879. Embarking in the 
practice in Caldwell county, he removed to Harrisburg in 
1883, and there is now occupying a high professional as 
well as social standing. By his marriage in November, 
1868, to Mary, daughter of Dr. James F. Gilmer, of 
Cabarrus county, his children are: Claudia L., James F., 
Samuel A., Elizabeth E., Margaret B., Mary G., Elva 
M., Evalyn A., Thomas, and Anna B. Claudia, the eld¬ 
est, was married in 1897 to Rev. J. Mercer Blair and 
went to Japan as a missionary of the Southern Presbyte¬ 
rian church. 

Captain James M. Gudger, a prominent attorney of 
Asheville, and commander, in 1898, of the camp of Con¬ 
federate veterans at that city, was born in Pickens dis¬ 
trict, S. C., in 1836, the eldest child of Robert L. and 
Mary (Johnson) Gudger. His father, a farmer in Bun¬ 
combe county until his death, in 1872, was the son of 
James, the eldest son of William Gudger, one of the 
earliest settlers in the region west of the Blue ridge, 
going there at a time when the Indians were dangerous, 
and acquiring large areas of land on both sides of Swan- 
annoa river, near its mouth. The mother of Captain 
Gudger was the daughter of Robert Johnson, a native of 
Ireland, who emigrated to Charleston, S. C., and became 
a prosperous planter in the Pickens district. Captain 

Nc 56 


516 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Gudger was reared in Buncombe county, and in the 
spring of 1861 assisted in the organization of the Rough 
and Ready Guards, a volunteer organization which went 
out with Zebulon B. Vance as captain and James M. 
Gudger, first lieutenant This became Company F of the 
Fourteenth regiment, Junius Daniel, colonel, and at the 
reorganization Gudger was elected captain, the rank in 
which his subsequent service was rendered. He was 
with his regiment in Virginia from the first, and during 
the battles before Richmond in the spring of 1862 re¬ 
ceived a severe wound in the hip which disabled him for 
nine months. He resumed command of his company at 
Fredericksburg and participated in the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville. Gettysburg soon followed, where his regi¬ 
ment was the first to enter the town, after the first 
day’s fight, and captured almost as many prisoners as it 
had men. He was in the fall campaign of 1863 and 
fought at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania until on May 
14, 1864, he received a wound of such severity that his 
military service was ended. Very soon after his return 
home he was elected by practically unanimous vote to 
the State legislature, where he served until the invasion 
of the State by Sherman’s army. Meanwhile, and dur¬ 
ing the three following years in which he farmed and 
taught school, he pursued the study of law and gained 
admission to practice in 1869. For sixteen years he fol¬ 
lowed his profession at Burnsville, and since then at 
Asheville. He has also rendered valuable public service 
as a State senator, elected in 1872; as solicitor for the 
county four years from 1874, and four years as alderman 
of the city, and has taken a prominent part in many 
conventions of his party. He was one of the organizers 
of the local camp of Confederate veterans. He was mar¬ 
ried in 1864 to Fannie Jane Patty, by whom three chil¬ 
dren survive, and, after her death, he married, in 1892, 
Mrs. Honston, by whom he has a daughter living. 

Lieutenant James Wharton Gulick, of Goldsboro, a 
survivor of the Second regiment, North Carolina State 
troops, was born at Princeton, N. J., in 1836, but was 
reared from the age of ten years at Fayetteville, N. C. 
He entered Princeton college in i860, but left his studies 
at the first sign of war, and returning home, enlisted in 
the volunteer company known as the Goldsboro Rifles, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


517 


with which he served in the occupation of Fort Macon as 
corporal. About a month later he resigned and, with 
others, organized in one day at Goldsboro a company of 
115 men, of which he was elected second lieutenant. 
This became Company H of Colonel Tew’s regiment, and 
he was identified with its services in North Carolina and 
Virginia in 1861, and in 1862 fought at the battles of 
Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor and Malvern 
Hill. In the latter bloody engagement he received a 
very severe wound in the left leg, which prevented his 
further service in the field. In August, 1863, he resigned 
on account of physical disability, and was assigned to a 
position in the office of the collector of tax-in-kind, at 
Goldsboro, where he remained during the existence of 
the government. A brother of the foregoing, Dr. John 
W. Gulick, served as assistant surgeon with Terry’s 
Texas Rangers, later as medical purveyor, and now re¬ 
sides at Corsicana, Tex. 

Louis D. Gulley, of Goldsboro, N. C., was born in 
Johnson county in 1844, the grandson of John Gulley, a 
soldier of the American revolution, who served at Cowpens 
and King’s mountain. He enlisted early in the spring of 
1862 in a volunteer organization, which became Company 
A of the Forty-sixth North Carolina infantry regiment, 
and served with this command until the end of the war. 
While on duty in North Carolina he participated in the 
engagement at Gum Swamp, between Kinston and New 
Bern, in 1862. In Gen. John R. Cooke’s brigade he was 
in battle at Bristoe Station, Va., in the fall of 1863, and, 
after the investment of Petersburg by the Northern army, 
he fought in the trenches, taking part in the battle of the 
Crater, and at Reams’ Station was wounded both in the 
right shoulder and left hand, but did not leave the field. 
Of this battle, August 26, 1864, General Lee reported at 
the time: “Gen. A. P. Hill attacked the enemy in his 
intrenchments at Reams’ Station, and at the second 
assault carried his entire line. Cooke’s and McRae’s 
North Carolina brigades, under General Heth, and Lane’s 
North Carolina brigade, of Wilcox’s division, under Gen¬ 
eral Conner, with Pegram’s artillery, composed the as¬ 
saulting column. Seven stand of colors, 2,000 prisoners 
and 9 pieces of artillery are in our possession. Our 
profound gratitude is due to the Giver of all victory and 


518 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


our thanks to the brave officers and men engaged. ” 
Cooke's brigade bore the brunt of the fighting in this 
splendid victory, which regained the Wilmington & 
Weldon railroad from the enemy. At the time of the 
surrender of the army of Northern Virginia he was at 
home on sick leave from Winder hospital, Richmond. 
Subsequently he farmed two years in Johnson county, 
then engaged in business two years at Raleigh, after 
which he removed to Goldsboro, where, after a career of 
eight years in mercantile business, he engaged in cotton 
buying and manufacturing, which, with farming, is his 
present occupation. In 1874 he married Ida M., daughter 
of James Kerr, of Sampson county, and has eight chil¬ 
dren living: Mary K., Louis D. Jr., Edwin K., Emmett 
L., Sudie, Ella, James K., and Katharine. 

Nestus H. Gurley, commander of Thomas Ruffin camp, 
United Confederate Veterans, of Goldsboro, was born in 
Wayne county, N. C., in 1840. He was among the earliest 
volunteers for the defense of the old North State, enlist¬ 
ing in the spring of 1861 as a private in Company H of 
the First North Carolina cavalry, which went on duty 
with the army at Manassas under the command of the 
gallant Robert Ransom. He took part in the skirmish 
of his command with the Federals in December, 1861, 
near Dranesville, and in the spring of 1862, after serving 
in the vicinity of Kinston, returned to Virginia to partic¬ 
ipate in Lee’s campaign against McClellan before Rich¬ 
mond. There, in the daring scout made by part of his 
regiment, Sunday, June 29th, he was severely wounded 
in the right breast and right leg, injuries which pre¬ 
vented further service. After spending two months at 
home he attempted to return to duty, but was honorably 
discharged. Since then he has been engaged in farming 
in Wayne county. By his marriage, in 1864, to Julia M. 
Sasser, he has five children living. 

Jacob M. Hadley, M. D., a leading physician of La 
Grange, N. C., formerly of the medical service of the 
army of Northern Virginia, was born in Chatham county, 
November 30, 1835. He is the son of William Penn Had¬ 
ley, a native of the same county, a prosperous farmer and 
miller and member of the legislature in 1864, whose grand¬ 
father, Joshua Hadley, founded the family in North Caro- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


519 


lina, moving to Chatham county from South Hadley, Mass. 
William Penn Hadley, though of good Quaker descent, 
gave three other sons to the Confederate service: William 
C., who served as second lieutenant in the Second cavalry, 
and was severely wounded at Brandy Station; Oliver N., 
of Company C, Twenty-sixth regiment, who died at 
Morehead City in 1861, and John W., of the Second cav¬ 
alry, who met his death in the battle of Stevensburg, Va. 
Dr. Hadley was educated at Trinity college and was 
graduated in medicine at the university of Pennsylvania 
in i860. He practiced his profession in Craven county 
until January, 1862, when he enlisted in the militia regi¬ 
ment of Colonel Clark, organized for the defense of New- 
bern, and disbanded after the fall of that city. He was 
then appointed assistant surgeon and assigned to the hos¬ 
pital at Raleigh with Surgeons Bryan and Haywood. In 
the autumn of 1862 he was commissioned surgeon of the 
Fourth regiment, North Carolina troops, with which he 
served in the army of Northern Virginia during the 
remainder of the war. He was with his regiment in 
the engagements at Fredericksburg, Bunker Hill, 
Winchester, Strasburg, and, on the retirement of the 
army from Gettysburg, was left in charge of the 
wounded at Martinsburg, where he became a pris¬ 
oner, but was left on duty, and finally was paroled 
three months later. He was subsequently with his 
regiment on the bloody fields of the Wilderness and 
Spottsylvania, and through the long siege of Peters¬ 
burg; at the battles of Hatcher’s Run and Farmville, and 
finally at Appomattox was receiving wounded men at the 
courthouse when the last guns were being fired. While 
performing his duties on the field he was hit once by a 
spent ball and once by a fragment of shell, but not seri¬ 
ously hurt. Dr. Hadley has continued in the practice 
at LaGrange since 1867, has a wide reputation as a skill¬ 
ful physician and has been frequently honored in the 
various professional societies of which he is a member. 
By his marriage, in i860, to Lizzie E. Kirkpatrick, he 
has living one son, George B. W. Hadley, principal of the 
LaGrange collegiate institute. 

John C. Hadley, a prosperous business man of Wilson, 
N. C., was born in 1845 i n Wilson county and^vas edu¬ 
cated at the Hillsboro military academy. When that 


520 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ,i 


institution was practically broken up by the warlike 
events of 1861, he entered school at Wilson and pursued 
his studies until he had reached the age of eighteen years. 
He then enlisted in March, 1863, in Company A of the 
Fifty-fifth regiment, Col. J. K. Conally. With appoint¬ 
ment to sergeant he served with this command in the 
Suffolk campaign and then joined the army in northern 
Virginia, and, with the brigade of Gen. Joseph R. Davis, 
participated in the Pennsylvania campaign. He had his 
first introduction to severe battle on July 1, 1863, in the 
attack of Heth’s division upon the Federals before Gettys¬ 
burg, in which the enemy was driven from Seminary 
hill. But the colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major and 
many others fell killed or wounded, and in a rally by the 
enemy, a number of the regiment were cut off in an 
advanced position. Sergeant Hadley was both wounded 
and captured, and from that time until June, 1865, nearly 
two years, was a prisoner of war at Fort Delaware. It was 
not his fortune, therefore, to participate in many glorious 
battles, but his unfaltering devotion to the cause was 
just as strongly displayed in prison camp as it could have 
been on the field. Since his return to North Carolina 
Mr. Hadley has been an enterprising and influential citi¬ 
zen. By his marriage, in 1868, to Mary Moore, he has 
two children: Bessie, wife of G. W. Connor, of Wilson, 
and Margaret R. Hadley. 

Lieutenant Thomas J. Hadley, a veteran of the Fifty- 
fifth North Carolina regiment, is a native of North Car¬ 
olina and a descendant of one of its old and patriotic fam¬ 
ilies. His great-grandfather, Thomas Hadley, was bom 
in Cumberland county, served as a captain in the army of 
the revolution, and died for his convictions at the hands 
of tories, being killed at his home. Thomas J. was born 
in Wayne county (now Wilson) in 1838, and entered the 
Confederate service in June, 1862, as a private in Com¬ 
pany A of the Fifty-fifth regiment. He was soon after¬ 
ward elected second lieutenant and then promoted 
first lieutenant, and was recommended for a cap¬ 
taincy on account of his gallant service. He took 
part in the engagement at Little Washington in North 
Carolina, and, with the army of Northern Virginia, 
took part in many famous battles. He fought at 
Gettysburg on the first and third days, and during the 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 521 

retreat, was wounded at Falling Waters. At the battle 
of the Wilderness he received a wound in the left shoul¬ 
der which disabled him for a month. During the fight¬ 
ing on the Weldon railroad he was captured on the 
skirmish line, and subsequently was held as a prisoner at 
Fort Delaware until the close of the war. Since his 
return he has made his home in his native county and is 
now engaged in business at Wilson. He was married, in 
1867, to Sallie, daughter of L. H. Sanders, and they have 
five children: Lucien S., Mattie, wife of Walter Wood¬ 
ward; Sallie, Thomas J. Jr., and Mary. 

Major Edward Joseph Hale was born near Fayetteville, 
N. C., on December 25, 1839. He is the son of Edward 
Jones Hale and his wife, Sarah Jane Walker. On his 
father’s side he is descended from Sir Matthew Hale, and 
on his mother’s from the noble family of Wodehouse. 
One of his ancestors, Col. Peter Mallett, was a major of 
the North Carolina Continentals in the revolution, and 
another, Samuel Hale, was an officer in the French and 
Indian war. Another, Joseph Herndon, was a captain in 
the revolution, while his maternal grandfather, Carleton 
Walker, served on the staff of General Gaines in the war 
of 1812 with the rank of major. The late Maj. Peter M. 
Hale, of Raleigh, was his brother. On the 15th of Jan¬ 
uary, 1861, he married Mariah Rhett, a lineal descendant, 
through her mother, of Sir John Yeamanns, the first gov¬ 
ernor of Carolina. They have had five children: Joseph 
Hill, who died in 1883, at the age of nineteen; Edward 
Jones, now business manager of the Fayetteville Ob¬ 
server; Louis Bond, now city editor of the same; Fred¬ 
erick Toomer, a civil engineer, and Thomas Hill, a rail¬ 
way clerk. Edward Jones Hale, the father of the subject 
of this sketch, was the editor of the Fayetteville Observer, 
one of the most influential of Southern journals, up to the 
destruction of its printing house and office by General 
Sherman in 1865. He was a man of wealth, and was in 
the habit of spending three months of every year in 
travel, accompanied by his family. To these journeys 
young Hale doubtless owes much of his quickness of per¬ 
ception, versatility of genius and knowledge of the great 
world. He was prepared for college at the Donaldson 
academy, where he stood at the head of his class, and 
graduated at the university of North Carolina in i860 


522 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


with the first distinction, having received the valedictory. 
Being designed by his father for a political career, he 
took the university’s special course in constitutional and 
international law. But all these plans were laid aside. 
The day after Lincoln’s proclamation calling for troops, 
Edward Joseph Hale volunteered as a private soldier in 
the Bethel regiment, of which D. H. Hill was colonel. 
He was in the first pitched battle at Big Bethel, June io, 
1861. When that regiment was disbanded Governor 
Clark appointed him a second lieutenant of North Caro¬ 
lina troops. In 1862 he was appointed first lieutenant 
and adjutant, and assigned to duty with the Fifty-sixth 
North Carolina regiment of Ransom’s brigade. He 
participated in all the engagements of that command in 
Virginia and eastern North Carolina, and distinguished 
himself by his coolness and bravery. Though little 
over twenty-one years of age, General Longstreet recog¬ 
nized his ability and appointed him judge-advocate of the 
department court-martial. About this time he was 
offered the very attractive and important position of pri¬ 
vate secretary to Governor Vance, of North Carolina, 
but declined, preferring to remain in the field. His 
ability, fighting record and general qualifications were 
known to Brigadier-General Lane, and that officer, after 
the death of Capt. George B. Johnston, tendered him the 
position of adjutant-general of his brigade of veterans in 
the fall of 1863. This he promptly accepted, and on the 
recommendation of General Lane, President Davis ap¬ 
pointed him captain in the adjutant and inspector-gen¬ 
erals’ department of the army, and assigned him to duty 
with Lane’s brigade. So slender and boyish looking was 
this new chief-of-staff that some of the veterans seemed 
to think him too young for such a responsible position. 
But Captain Hale displayed such strong character in the 
conduct of his duties that before the close of the terrific 
campaign of 1864 he was the idol of the troops. His 
behavior on the battlefield was extraordinary. He 
would sit his horse under fire, coolly write dispatches 
from the pommel of his saddle, and the next moment 
throw himself into a charge with reckless abandon. In 
the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania Court House, at Jericho 
ford, Totopotomoy, Cold Harbor and Turkey Ridge I in 
many battles before Petersburg after Grant had crossed 
to the south side of the James; at Deep Bottom, Gravelly 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


523 


hill, Riddle’s shop and Fussell’s mill; at Reams’ Station; 
in the battles of the 2d of April, 1865, in the morning 
and later at Battery Gregg and Battery 45; at Amelia 
Court House, Farmville and other engagements on the 
retreat to Appomattox, he distinguished himself and 
acted with conspicuous gallantry. General Lane, of 
whose splendid tribute to Captain Hale the military 
sketch here given is an abbreviation, tells how this gal¬ 
lant officer led the brigade in the final charge and recov¬ 
ery of the Confederate works at Fussell’s mill; of the skill 
exhibited by him in the construction of several miles of 
the defensive line near Petersburg, and of his successful 
leadership in the charge of Lane’s brigade at Reams’ 
Station. Not long before the close of the war a remark¬ 
able tribute was paid to Captain Hale’s bravery and skill. 
Upon the petition of the major commanding the Twenty- 
eighth North Carolina regiment and all of its officers 
present, he was recommended by his brigade, division 
and corps commanders for the colonelcy of that regiment 
for conspicuous gallantry and merit. The technical 
difficulty that he was not a member of the regiment 
delayed matters until too late for action before the war 
closed. He was, however, appointed major and assistant 
adjutant and inspector-general under the staff law that 
had passed congress, and received the signature of the 
president. After the war he was employed in a business 
house in New York, and though without capital, he be¬ 
came a partner in a large wholesale house. In 1882 he 
returned to Fayetteville and shortly after re-established 
the Observer. He has been very prominent in North 
Carolina politics. He has also served as United States 
consul to Manchester, England, has traveled much in 
the East, and is a writer of great distinction, especially 
on political matters. 

B. Frank Hall, of Wilmington, born in Duplin county 
in 1842, served throughout the war as a member of the 
Duplin Rifles, or Company A of the Forty-third regiment, 
North Carolina infantry. He entered the service as a 
private in the Duplin Rifles, Capt. Thomas S. Kenan, 
organized at Kenansville, in 1859, and in April, 1861, 
mustered in for six months. The company was first 
assigned to the First, Col. D. H. Hill’s regiment, but was 
transferred to the Second regiment, Col. Sol Williams, 


524 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


with which it served about Norfolk, Va. In December, 
1862, the company was reorganized, and in March, 1862, 
became Company A of the Forty-third regiment, Col. 
Junius Daniel, who was succeeded by Col. T. S. Kenan. 
In this command Private Hall soon rose to the rank of 
first sergeant. Sergeant Hall was on duty with his regi¬ 
ment, in Daniel’s brigade, during the Seven Days’ cam¬ 
paign before Richmond, was under fire at Malvern hill 
and afterward at Drewry’s bluff and Suffolk, and from 
December, 1862, to June, 1863, was on duty in North 
Carolina, participating in the affair at Deep Gulley. He 
took part in the terrific fight of July 1st at Seminary 
ridge, and the next two days of the Gettysburg 
battle, the affair at Hagerstown on the retreat from 
Pennsylvania, and subsequently, being attached to 
Hoke’s brigade, served in North Carolina, at the bat¬ 
tle of Batchelder’s Creek, the siege and capture of 
Plymouth, and the skirmishes before New Bern, return¬ 
ing thence to Virginia, where he participated in the 
battle of Drewry’s Bluff, Hanover Junction, Bethesda 
Church, in 1864, and in the spring of 1865 took part in 
the assault upon the Federal works at Hare’s hill, March 
25th. On the morning of April 2d, prior to the evacua¬ 
tion of Petersburg, he was in command of a squad of 
twelve men, which, with a similar squad from the Forty- 
fifth, entered Fort Mahone, then in the hands of the 
enemy, captured 100 prisoners, and aided effectively in 
the gallant fighting which forced the Federals from the 
lines. During the retreat Sergeant Hall was in battle 
at Sailor’s creek, and at Appomattox, Sunday morning, 
he joined in the last assault upon the enemy. Upon 
the close of this gallant and self-sacrificing career, in 
which he had never been wounded, though sharing all 
the active service of his regiment except the Shenandoah 
campaign, when he was disabled by sickness, Mr. Hall 
returned to his native county, where he taught school for 
three years. Removing to Wilmington in 1868, he 
engaged in business, in 1869, as a member of the firm of 
Edwards & Hall, now Hall & Pearsall, and he has met 
with the success that every true soldier deserves. 

Colonel Edward Dudley Hall, the first commander of 
the Forty-sixth regiment, North Carolina troops, was born 
at Wilmington, September 27, 1823, the son of Edward 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


525 


Pearsall Hall, a prominent man of the Cape Fear region. 
He was educated at Donaldson academy, and in 1845 was 
married to Susan Hill Lane, of Wilmington, who died in 
1850, leaving one son. He subsequently married Sallie 
Loudon Green, daughter of James S. Green, by whom 
two sons and three daughters are living. Early in man¬ 
hood he began an active career in politics as a Democrat, 
was elected to the legislature in 1846, and as sheriff in 
1852, an office in which he was retained for eight years. 
In 1861 he raised the first company of volunteers in that 
part of the State, with which, as captain, he was mustered 
in with the Second regiment of volunteers. Upon the 
organization of the Seventh regiment, State troops, in 
August, 1861, he was commissioned major of that com¬ 
mand. At the battle of New Bern, March 14, 1862, he 
was distinguished for gallantry in the bayonet charge of 
his regiment, by which the enemy were driven from the 
breastworks at Fort Thompson and a section of Brem’s 
battery retaken. Soon afterward, on account of the fame 
which he gained on this occasion, he had the honor of 
being elected colonel of the Forty-sixth, then forming, 
though he was personally acquainted with but one man in 
the regiment. Going into Virginia with this command 
he was assigned to Walker’s, afterward Cooke’s, brigade, 
and served in all the battles of the army of Northern 
Virginia up to December, 1864, when disability com¬ 
pelled his resignation. After the wounding of Colonel 
Manning, he commanded the brigade at Sharpsburg and 
was commended by his superior officers for his efficient 
service in this capacity. At Fredericksburg, after the 
wounding of General Cooke, he was in command of his 
brigade at Marye’s hill, where he fought with Cobb’s 
brigade, repulsing six attacks of the enemy. He declined 
promotion to brigadier-general, though urged upon him 
by A. P. Hill. During the Gettysburg campaign he ren¬ 
dered conspicuous service on the South Anna river. 
After his return home he served one year as sheriff, and 
in 1866 was elected to the State senate. He was a dele¬ 
gate to the first Democratic convention after the war, 
and was nominated for lieutenant-governor on the ticket 
headed by Judge Thomas S. Ashe. In a campaign 
which required fearlessness to conduct he was very 
active. In 1883 he began a term of four years as mayor 
of Wilmington, and was subsequently elected chief of 


526 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


police. For three years he was special inspector of cus¬ 
toms for the Wilmington district, and during the four 
years preceding the final failure of his health, he held 
the position of major-general commanding the North 
Carolina division, United Confederate veterans. His 
death occurred in June, 1896. 

Major Daniel H. Hamilton, of Hillsboro, is a native of 
Charleston, S. C., and rendered a portion of his service 
as a Confederate soldier with the troops of that State. 
He is the son of Col. D. H. Hamilton, who commanded 
the First South Carolina regiment during the Confeder¬ 
ate war, and died in 1868; and his grandfather was James 
Hamilton, governor of South Carolina during the admin¬ 
istration of President Andrew Jackson. James Hamilton 
was a son of Maj. James Hamilton, who commanded a 
battalion of Pennsylvania troops in the war of the revo¬ 
lution, and, on account of gallant service, was ordered 
to ride in the post of honor at the surrender of Yorktown. 
Maj. D. H. Hamilton was educated at the South Caro¬ 
lina military academy, at Charleston, and at the outbreak 
of war, in 1861, was an instructor in the military institute 
at Hillsboro, under Col. C. C. Tew. He promptly 
entered the military service at the first call to arms, and 
upon the organization of the Thirteenth North Carolina 
regiment, May 16, 1861, at Garysburg, under Colonel Pen¬ 
der, he was elected major. He was soon afterward taken 
with typhoid fever, and upon his recovery was assigned 
to duty on the staff of General Ripley. He served in 
this capacity in the campaigns of the army of Northern 
Virginia until, during the Maryland campaign, on account 
of a misunderstanding with his chief, he resigned his 
commission and joined the First South Carolina regiment, 
under command of his father, Colonel Hamilton, then on 
duty in the same region. He served as adjutant of the 
regiment until he received a severe wound at Shepherds- 
town, which disabled him for active duty. Subsequently 
he was appointed provost-marshal at Columbia, S. C., 
where he remained until the invasion by Sherman, after 
which he was taken prisoner at Catawba bridge. Among 
the engagements in which he took part were Dam No. 5, 
Malvern Hill, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg and Boteler’s 
Ford. A brother, James Hamilton, was a cadet at West 
Point in 1860-61, but resigned and enlisted in the South 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


527 


Carolina troops; was present at the reduction of Fort 
Sumter, and afterward served on the staff of Gen. Rich¬ 
ard Taylor and John B. Hood, until near the close of 
the war, when he became chief of artillery of Gen. 
Joseph Wheeler’s corps. He passed through thirty-eight 
battles, three horses were killed under him, and his cloth¬ 
ing was frequently perforated by bullets, but he was 
never wounded. His death occurred in 1867. After 
the close of hostilities Major Hamilton resided three 
years in Florida and then engaged in educational work 
in North Carolina, conducting a private school for several 
years, and having charge of the Hillsboro military acad¬ 
emy for three years. He is now deputy clerk of the 
superior court. 

Joseph A. Hamilton, vice-president of the Elmira cot¬ 
ton mills at Burlington and a prominent man of that 
region of the State, had a noteworthy record as a private 
soldier and non-commissioned officer of the Sixth regi¬ 
ment. He was born in Orange county in 1842, son of 
John Hamilton, a native North Carolinian, and a soldier of 
the war of 1812. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in Com¬ 
pany F of the Sixth regiment, North Carolina troops, then 
under command of Colonel Fisher, and was on duty at the 
Potomac river until ordered to Yorktown. After the 
retreat to Richmond he took part in the battles of Seven 
Pines, Gaines’ Mill and Malvern Hill, in which his reg¬ 
iment was distinguished by its gallant assaults on the 
enemy’s batteries. The next important battle of the 
regiment was Second Manassas, where Hamilton was 
wounded. After lying in the field hospital, two weeks, 
he was carried to the Lynchburg hospital, and was not 
able to rejoin his command until two days before the 
battle of Fredericksburg, in which he participated. In 
the second fight at Fredericksburg, in May following, 
and in the defeat of Milroy at Winchester, he did a sol¬ 
dier’s duty, and while sharing the memorable service of 
his command on the first and second days of the battle 
of Gettysburg, he was again wounded, fortunately but 
slightly. In the disaster at Rappahannock Station, 
November 7, 1863, he was among the captured, and, 
after that, was held as a prisoner of war at Point Look¬ 
out, Md., for a period of sixteen months. This long and 
wearisome confinement came to an end in March, 1865, 


528 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

and after a few days at home, he started to rejoin his 
company, but before he could do so, the remnant of the 
gallant army had submitted to the inevitable at Appo¬ 
mattox Court House. After this he engaged in farming, 
and later was connected with mercantile business and 
familiarized himself with cotton manufacturing as ship¬ 
ping clerk for the Caroline mills. In 1886 he was elected 
sheriff of Alamance county, an office which he held for 
eight years. Since then he has held his present official 
position with the Elmira mills, and has for a time been 
a director of the bank of Burlington. 

Colonel Gray W. Hammond, of the Fifteenth North 
Carolina infantry, the gallant regiment with which Gen. 
William MacRae served as a company officer and com¬ 
mander, and which was distinguished under the brigade 
command of Gen. John R. Cooke, was born near Cedar 
Rock, Franklin county, October 22, 1829. He enlisted 
April 16, 1861, as second lieutenant of the Rocky Mount 
light infantry, an organization which was mustered in as 
Company K of the Fifteenth regiment. In July following 
he was elected captain of his company, was re-elected 
to that rank at the reorganization, and a year later was 
promoted major. In 1864 he was promoted lieutenant- 
colonel, the rank he held at the close. His service with 
the regiment embraced the entire four years’ struggle, 
and was marked by gallantry in action and devotion to 
the cause under all circumstances. He took part in the 
early fighting about Yorktown, on the peninsula of Vir¬ 
ginia, and in the last charge at Appomattox; and in num¬ 
erous intervening conflicts, such as Gaines’ Mill, Malvern 
Hill, Mine Run, Bristoe Station, and in eight months’ 
fighting in the Petersburg trenches, demonstrated his 
soldierly qualities. After the close of hostilities he 
returned to the duties of civil life, and as farmer, 
merchant and hotel proprietor, magistrate for Edgecombe 
county several years, and mayor of Rocky Mount, won 
in every station the respect and confidence of his fellow 
citizens. Colonel Hammond died in July, 1879. By his 
marriage, in August, 1849, to Louisa J. White, there are 
three children now living: Mary E., wife of A. W. 
Arrington; Josephine, wife of Thomas J. Hackney, and 
Charles W. Hammond, a prosperous business man of 
Rocky Mount. 

No 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


529 


Nathaniel Harding, rector of St. Peter’s church, Wash¬ 
ington, N. C., a grandson of Israel Harding, a native of 
North Carolina and a staff officer, with the rank of major, 
with Gen. Nathaniel Greene during the revolution, is 
one of the survivors of four brothers who were in the 
military service of the Confederate States. The eldest, 
Jarvis B., was ordnance officer of the Fourth regiment, 
State troops, and died of fever just after the battle of 
Gettysburg; Frederick was captain of Company K, Third 
North Carolina cavalry, survived the war and died in 
1894; and Henry, who was major of the Sixty-first regi¬ 
ment, is now living at Greenville. Nathaniel Harding 
was born at Chocowinity, Beaufort county, in 1847, and 
in August, 1864, enlisted as a private in Company I of the 
Sixty-seventh regiment, Colonel Whitford, with which he 
participated in the severe fighting at Plymouth and the 
engagement at Fort Branch, and finally was paroled at 
the close of the war at Greenville. Two years later he 
entered the Cheshire military academy, Connecticut, was 
graduated in 1869, and after studying two years at Trinity 
college, Connecticut, returned to the Cheshire academy 
as commandant, a position he held for two and a half 
years. From 1870 to 1873 he studied for orders, was 
ordained deacon in the latter year, and in 1875 was 
ordained priest by Rt. Rev. Thomas Atkinson, at Wash¬ 
ington, N. C. Since then he has served very acceptably 
at his present charge. By his marriage, in 1874, to a 
daughter of Rev. Dr. N. C. Hughes, Mary E., who died 
in 1886, he has four children: Collin Hughes, Fred Har- 
riman, Mary E., and William D. In 1889 he was married 
to Marina B., daughter of Edmund S. Hoyt. 

Lieutenant William J. Hardison, of Williamston, N. C., 
formerly of the Seventeenth regiment, is a native of 
Beaufort county, bom November 18, 1828. Since his fif¬ 
teenth year he has been a resident of Martin county, 
where he enlisted in the spring of 1861, organizing a 
company which was mustered in as Company E, Seven¬ 
teenth North Carolina regiment. At the organization he 
was elected second lieutenant and two years later he was 
promoted first lieutenant. The earlier and longer period 
of his service was in North Carolina, but in the fall 
of 1863, his regiment, commanded by Col. William F. 
Martin, became part of the brigade of Gen. James G. 


530 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


Martin, and, after being stationed for a time at Wilming¬ 
ton, defeated the Federals at Newport and relieved Gen¬ 
eral Hoke’s command at Plymouth. Then being called 
into Virginia, Lieutenant Hardison participated in the 
bottling of Butler, including the gallant fight of May 20th 
at the Howlett house. He was subsequently in the battle 
of Cold Plarbor and the four days’ fighting before Peters¬ 
burg, June 14th-18th, served in the trenches at Peters¬ 
burg several months, and took part in the engagements at 
Henrico almshouse and on the Darby town road, under 
Longstreet. In the spring of 1865 he commanded his 
company in the fight at Northeast river bridge, near 
Kinston, and at Bentonville. After the close of hostilities 
he resumed his occupation as a farmer, and in 1874 was 
elected sheriff of Martin county, an office he held for 
twenty-two years. He is a devoted member of the United 
Confederate veterans, and commander of John C. Lamb 
camp at Williarnston, an organization which in its title 
perpetuates the name of the gallant lieutenant-colonel of 
the Seventeenth, who fell on the enemy’s breastworks at 
Bermuda Hundred. Commander Hardison was married 
in 1855 to Mary A. Andrews, who died in 1887, and has 
six children living. 

Peter C. Harkey, of Mecklenburg county, a veteran of 
the First North Carolina cavalry, was born in the county 
where he now resides, May 3, 1828, and was reared as a 
farmer. On May 8, 1861, he enlisted in the cavalry com¬ 
pany organized in Mecklenburg for what was then known 
as the Ninth regiment of State troops. This became 
Company C of the regiment, which had its first rendezvous 
at Asheville, and in the fall of 1861, led by the gallant 
Robert Ransom, went into Virginia to the Confederate 
lines at Manassas. As sergeant of his company he par¬ 
ticipated in most of the one hundred and fifty fights in 
which the regiment was afterward engaged, notably the 
battles of the Seven Days before Richmond, Second 
Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericks¬ 
burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, Brandy Station, Reams’ Station, Wil¬ 
cox’s Farm, Cedar Run and Five Forks. In the cav¬ 
alry fight of March 31, 1865, in Barringer’s brigade, 
he was shot from his horse, and was captured by 
the enemy, by whom he was held as prisoner at Fortress 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


531 


Monroe until July 17, 1865. Since the close of the war 
he has been engaged in agriculture in his native county, 
living a quiet and prosperous life, his home brightened 
by the presence of his wife, Sallie Russell Gingles, to 
whom he was married October 16, 1865, and seven sons 
and four daughters. 

Major George W. F. Harper, a prominent citizen of 
Lenoir, N. C., was born in Caldwell county in 1834, a son 
of James Harper. He was educated at Davidson college, 
and in 1856 entered upon a business career which occu¬ 
pied his attention until the beginning of the war. In 
March, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Fifty-eighth reg¬ 
iment, North Carolina troops. The service of this regi¬ 
ment was mainly rendered with the army of Tennessee, 
and Major Harper was identified with it throughout. 
Enlisting as a pri vate, he was promoted to first lieutenant 
in July, 1862, to captain the following September, and to 
major in the fall of 1863. For a considerable time he 
was in command of his regiment. The first field service 
of the Fifty-eighth was at Cumberland Gap, Tenn., and 
it participated in several skirmishes in that region and 
in Kentucky. In 1863 it joined Bragg’s army at Chat¬ 
tanooga and fought in the battle of Chickamauga, at 
which, however, Major Harper was not present, being on 
detached duty. He took part in the battle of Missionary 
Ridge, where his brigade and regiment gallantly resisted 
the assaults of Sheridan. During the famous campaign 
of 1864, from Dalton to Atlanta, he was a gallant partic¬ 
ipant up to the battle of Resaca, where he received a 
severe wound, which for some time confined him to the 
hospital. While at home, during his convalescence, he 
took part in the pursuit of Colonel Kirk’s raiders after 
their capture of Camp Vance, and in this affair his horse 
was shot under him. Rejoining the army of Tennessee, 
now under the command of Hood, he, with his regiment, 
led the advance of Lee’s corps into Columbia, Tenn., 
where he was left in command at Columbia with prison¬ 
ers captured during the Tennessee campaign. Subse¬ 
quently he conveyed about 1,700 prisoners to Corinth. 
After this he was engaged in operations against the 
Federal cavalry, and his regiment was then moved to 
Branchville, S. C. After a number of engagements with 
Sherman’s advance, he fell back to Columbia, burning 
No 57 


532 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the bridge as they entered that place, and thence marched 
to Charlotte, N. C., fording the icy waters of the Catawba 
river in February. His last battle was at Bentonville, 
where his regiment gave a good account of itself. Since 
the close of hostilities he has been successfully engaged 
in business at Lenoir. In 1874 he built the section of the 
Chester & Lenoir railroad, between Lenoir and Hickory, 
a narrow-gauge line, which has been under his charge as 
president since 1894. He is also president of the Bank 
of Lenoir, president of the company which controls the 
Blowing Rock summer resort, trustee of the Charlotte 
female college, and a director of the State hospital at 
Morgan ton. In 1880-81 he was a member of the legisla¬ 
ture of North Carolina. By his marriage, in 1859, to 
Ella, daughter of Rev. Jesse Rankin, he has two chil¬ 
dren, George F. Harper and Mrs. Ellen Bernhardt. 

Henry D. Harper, Sr., D. D. S., of Kinston, N. C., 
was born near Bentonville in 1847, the son of John Har¬ 
per, a farmer of Johnson county, born there in 1803, died 
in 1897. His grandfather was John Harper, a native of 
Virginia, and a soldier of the war of the revolution. Dr. 
Harper was under eighteen years of age during the whole 
course of the great war, but in July, 1864, he enlisted in 
the Confederate ranks as a private in the independent 
company of infantry organized in Goldsboro and com¬ 
manded by Capt. John W. Griswold. A few weeks later 
he was detailed as orderly to Col. S. D. Pool, and in this 
capacity continued until the close of the war. He took 
part in the engagement at Cobb’s Mill, Lenoir county, 
and surrendered at Stantonsburg, April 25, 1865. Return¬ 
ing to his home near Bentonville he found that it had 
been transformed into a Confederate hospital and con¬ 
tained fifty-four wounded soldiers, nearly all of them 
mortally hurt. The farm was devoid of fences and devas¬ 
tated by the necessities of war, so that he and his father 
were compelled to rent an adjoining farm upon which to 
labor for their sustenance. He was thus engaged three 
years, when he was fortunately able to leave his home in 
a restored condition and begin his own career as a student 
in the university of Kentucky. After four years’ study 
in the academic and theological departments, he took a 
course in dentistry, and in 1885 was graduated in that 
profession at the university of Tennessee. Since 1882 he 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


533 


has been very successful in the practice of dentistry at 
Kinston, has served five years as chairman of the board of 
education of his county, and in the years 1884-85 was presi¬ 
dent of the State dental association. At the organization 
of the naval reserves, Kinston division, in March, 1895, he 
was elected lieutenant-commander, a rank which he held 
until his resignation about a year later. In 187 7 Dr. Harper 
was married to M. Delia, daughter of John H. Coward, 
and they have six children: Henry D. Jr., Carl C., Jasper 
V., Edith Earl, Fay Marie and Mildred D. Harper. 

Lieutenant John C. Harper, of Nashville, N. C., a vet¬ 
eran of the Twelfth North Carolina regiment, was born 
in Franklin county in the year 1841, and was there reared 
and educated. He entered the State service, May 10, 1861, 
as a private of Company H, Second regiment of volun¬ 
teers, under Col. Solomon Williams. He served in the 
ranks until the reorganization, in 1862, when the regi¬ 
ment was reorganized as the Twelfth regiment, and then 
he was elected first lieutenant of his company. From the 
summer of 1863 until the close of the war he was in com¬ 
mand, first of the sharpshooters of the regiment, and 
later of the sharpshooters of the brigade. The service of 
the regiment was mainly rendered under the brigade 
command of Garland and Branch, in the divisions of D. H. 
Hill and Rodes. Among the battles in which Lieutenant 
Harper participated were the bloody fight and glorious 
victory at Chancellorsville, where he was wounded in the 
left leg by a minie ball and disabled for ninety days; 
Spottsylvania Court House, the fighting thence to Cold 
Harbor, the relief of Lynchburg, the capture of Harper’s 
Ferry, Early’s raid through Maryland, including the battle 
of Monocacy, the demonstration against Washington, and 
the fight just after crossing the Potomac, on the retreat, 
the Shenandoah battles of Winchester and Cedar Creek, 
and after that he served in the trenches before Petersburg, 
took part in the battle of Fort Steadman, and, surviving 
the fighting on the retreat, participated in the last charge 
at Appomattox and then surrendered. Since then he has 
resided in Nash county and since 1869 has served as a 
magistrate. By his marriage, in 1869, to Hattie E. John¬ 
son, who died in 1882, he has one child, Mary G. In 1883 
he was married to Susan J. Mitchell, and they have four 
children, Hattie, Bessie, John H. and Susan. 


534 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major James Gilmer Harris, of Charlotte, prominent 
among the surviving veterans of the Seventh infantry and 
Lane’s brigade, was born in Mecklenburg county, No¬ 
vember io, 1841, of patriotic North Carolina ancestry. 
His father, Nathaniel A. Harris, born in Cabarrus county, 
died in 1845, was the son of Laird and Theresa (Alex¬ 
ander) Harris, the latter of whom was the daughter of 
William and Elizabeth Alexander, whose fathers, Heze- 
kiah and Abram Alexander, were both members of the 
Mecklenburg convention of 1775. His mother was Mary 
Gilmer, daughter of John Gilmer, of Mecklenburg. She 
reared her son in Cabarrus county until her death, in 
1854, when he made his home with an uncle, Dr. James 
F. Gilmer. In 1859 he entered the North Carolina mili¬ 
tary institute at Charlotte, but left there in the spring of 
1861 and enlisted with the Cabarrus minute men, of 
which he was elected and commissioned captain. In 
August he took his company to the camp of instruction 
at Graham, where it was assigned, as Company H, to the 
Seventh regiment, which soon afterward became a part 
of Branch’s brigade. With this command he took part 
in the battles of New Bern, and then going into Virginia 
and joining A. P. Hill’s division, participated in the 
engagements at Mechanicsville, Frayser’s Farm, Cold 
Harbor, Malvern Hill, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg and 
Fredericksburg. In the battle of Chancellorsville he 
was in command of his company on the extreme right of 
his regiment, in line of battle behind log breastworks 
from which the enemy had been driven. In the dark¬ 
ness of evening a Federal brigade came up and Har¬ 
ris demanded to know who they were. On the reply, 
“We are Federals; speak or we will fire into you.” Lieu¬ 
tenant Campbell, of Company C, responded, “Fire then; 
there’s more of us than you can shoot.” The Federals 
then proposed to surrender, and while negotiations were 
going on, the men intensely excited, fearing treachery 
and not being able to see more than ten feet ahead, a 
party of horsemen was heard coming along in the front. 
Some one in Lane’s brigade fired, and a volley followed. 
On the next morning they learned to their great sorrow 
and dismay that the horsemen were Jackson and his 
staff, and that he had been fatally wounded. During 
the retreat from Gettysburg, Captain Harris, as ranking 
officer among the survivors, commanded the regiment, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


535 


and he had the same honor after the battle of the Wilder¬ 
ness until the close of the war. At Spottsylvania Court 
House, where Lane’s brigade was distinguished in check¬ 
ing the onslaught of Hancock’s corps, he held his regi¬ 
ment in place in the dense fog and gave the order to fire, 
as soon as the Federal colors appeared before him, his 
men responding with a volley that swept the enemy from 
their front. He fought at Cold Harbor and in several 
engagements about Petersburg, and on September 30, 
1864, was severely wounded at the battle of Jones’ Farm. 
He was promoted major about this time, the rank in 
which he closed his service. Since 1867 he has resided 
at Charlotte, where for thirty years he has been success¬ 
fully engaged in business as a merchant. He is a valued 
member of Mecklenburg camp. 

J. Shakespeare Harris, of Concord, a veteran of the 
North Carolina cavalry, was born at Springville in 1845, 
the son of Charles Jay Harris and his wife, Lenore, 
daughter of William Springs. His family was founded 
in North Carolina about 1730, by an ancestor who came 
from Cecil county, Md. Several of his ancestors were 
soldiers of the revolution, notably his mother’s grand¬ 
father, Captain Houston. He was educated at the North 
Carolina military school, under D. H. Hill, and was but 
sixteen years of age when that famous preceptor went 
into the war. In February, 1862, young Harris enlisted, 
though not yet eighteen, as a private in Company F, 
Fifth cavalry, and from that time until the evacuation of 
Petersburg was identified with the record of his com¬ 
mand, under Gordon and Barringer, W. H. F. Lee and 
Hampton. He took part in the famous cavalry fighting 
attending the campaign of 1863, notably the engagements 
at Brandy Station, Upperville and Gettysburg, under 
Stuart. In August, 1863, he was detailed as a scout in 
the rear of the enemy’s lines along the Alexandria rail¬ 
road, and in this adventurous service obtained much val¬ 
uable information. He was in the thick of many cavalry 
fights, was wounded with a saber cut and a pistol shot 
November 8, 1864, and at Disputanta was taken prisoner. 
This latter misfortune ended his military service, as he 
was held at City Point, Point Lookout and Johnson’s 
island until July, 1865. Since the war he has been 
engaged in farming near Concord, is happily situated 


536 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


with an elegant home and pleasing surroundings, and 
with his good wife, a daughter of Dr. Hudson Mills, of 
Rutherford, enjoys life as every brave Confederate vet¬ 
eran deserves. 

Lieutenant Fabius J. Haywood, of Raleigh, a veteran 
of the Fifth North Carolina infantry regiment, was born 
at Raleigh in 1840, and immediately after his graduation 
at the university of North Carolina, in 1861, entered the 
Confederate service in Company E, Fifth regiment, of 
which he was elected second lieutenant. In the Seven 
Days’ battles before Richmond his regiment was distin¬ 
guished, in Garland’s brigade of D. H. Hill’s division, 
and during that campaign he was assigned to the staff of 
General Garland, with whom he served until that gallant 
commander was killed at South Mountain, Md. He was 
soon afterward appointed adjutant of his regiment, and 
he continued to serve in that capacity, participating in 
all its battles until, in the first day’s fight at Gettys¬ 
burg, he was desperately wounded in three places, the 
left hip, right thigh and left hand. Upon the retreat of 
the army he was left in field hospital among those whom 
it was impossible to move, and became a prisoner of war. 
A few weeks later he was transferred to David’s island, 
New York harbor, and from there to Johnson’s island, 
Lake Erie. About ten days before the surrender at 
Appomattox he was paroled, but was never formally 
exchanged. On his return home he began the study of 
medicine and was graduated at the Bellevue hospital 
medical college, New York, in 1868. Since then he has 
been engaged in the practice at Raleigh. 

Leo D. Heartt, cashier of the First national bank of 
Durham, in his boyhood was earnestly devoted to the 
Confederate cause and served as a clerk in the office of 
Gov. Zebulon B. Vance. It was his special duty to carry 
messages from the governor and to act as a courier 
between the executive department and officers in the 
field, and in this capacity he frequently went through the 
lines and obtained a vivid impression of the circum¬ 
stances of war. He carried the last dispatches from the 
governor to the headquarters of Gen. Wade Hampton, 
and accompanied the governor on a personal visit to that 
distinguished commander. Subsequently he was engaged 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


537 


in mercantile pursuits, until he became connected with 
the banking business at Raleigh, where he remained until 
1887, when, upon the organization of the First national 
bank at Durham, he was invited to accept the position of 
cashier. He is also a director of the Durham & Northern 
railroad. He has taken an active part in municipal 
affairs, as alderman for several terms and as chairman of 
the graded school committee. For twelve years he served 
as assistant paymaster-general of the State military 
organization. Mr. Heartt is a native of Raleigh and a 
son of Leo E. Heartt, a prominent merchant who served 
during the war with the Senior reserves. His grand¬ 
father, Dennis Heartt, a native of Connecticut, of Ger¬ 
man descent, was at the time of his death the oldest 
newspaper editor in the country. Mr. Heartt was mar¬ 
ried in 1872 to Annie, daughter of Oliver S. Dewey, col¬ 
lector of the port at New Bern during the war, and after 
the evacuation of that place, in charge of the commissary 
department. 

Captain Ludolphus B. Henderson, dental surgeon, of 
Durham, a veteran of the Third regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina troops, was born in Caswell county in 1834, son of 
James S. Henderson, a well-known farmer of that 
region. He studied at Trinity college and then entered 
the dental college at Philadelphia, where he received the 
degree of doctor of dental surgery in the winter of i860. 
In the spring of 1861 he enlisted in Company A of Gen¬ 
eral Pender’s First regiment, the Third volunteers, or, as 
it was afterward known, the Thirteenth regiment. At 
the reorganization of the army he was promoted to first 
lieutenant, and during the Gettysburg campaign was 
advanced to the rank of captain. He served with his 
regiment in southeastern Virginia during 1861, marched 
to Yorktown in the spring of 1862, participated in the gal¬ 
lant action of his command at Williamsburg, fought at 
Seven Pines and in the Seven Days’ campaign until he 
was severely wounded at White Oak swamp. He was 
disabled until after the Maryland campaign, but rejoined 
his regiment at Bunker Hill. He was sent in command of 
a detachment to guard Snicker’s ford, and there with sixty 
men repulsed and inflicted heavy loss upon a company of 
cavalry and a regiment of infantry sent against them by 
the enemy. Not long after this Captain Henderson was 


538 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


taken with smallpox and had a terrible experience in the 
hospital at Winchester. A rumor of the approach of the 
enemy’s raiders caused him to make his way to Staunton 
after about three weeks in the pest-house, and reaching 
there he took charge of about three hundred convalescents 
and proceeded to Guinea Station, after which he re¬ 
joined his command near Fredericksburg. He took part in 
the battle of Chancellorsville, where his regiment suffered 
severely, and at Gettysburg fought in the battles of the 
first and second days and was again wounded. He was 
in the battles of Bristoe Station and Mine Run, the Wil¬ 
derness and Spottsylvania Court House; was disabled by 
illness during the Cold Harbor fighting, and subsequently 
fought on the Petersburg lines until the evacuation. 
After the fight at Burgess’ mill, April i, 1865, he was left 
in command of two companies to defend the bridge and 
was captured there next day. After a brief confinement 
at the Old Capitol prison he was taken to Johnson’s island 
and held until July, 1865. After these events Captain 
Henderson resumed his professional work, practiced at 
Washington, D. C., and Atlanta, Ga., until 1889, and then 
made his home at Durham. By his marriage, in 1862, to 
Anna, daughter of R. B. Simpson, of Baltimore, he has 
five children living, L. B. Henderson, of Seattle, Sallie 
R., Mary, Samuel and Thomas. 

Needham Bryan Herring, M. D., a worthy representa¬ 
tive of the medical service of the Confederate armies, 
was born in Duplin county, N. C., in 1839. He was 
reared and educated in his native place, and then studied 
medicine at the university of New York, where he was 
graduated in March, 1861. Soon afterward he volun¬ 
teered as assistant surgeon at the hospital located at 
Wilson, and continued in service there during the fall of 
1861 and the following winter. In the summer of 1862 
he was taken with typhoid fever, which incapacitated 
him during the succeeding two years. Again tendering 
his services in behalf of the wounded and suffering heroes 
he was assigned, as assistant surgeon, to the military 
hospital at Lynchburg, Va., in the summer of 1864, and 
he remained there on duty during the siege of that place 
by the Federal forces. Subsequently he was taken vio¬ 
lently ill with dysentery, and after lying for some time 
in hospital was taken to his home. In the following 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


539 


winter he returned to duty as assistant surgeon at Ral¬ 
eigh, and was in service when the war came to an end. 
Since then he has been engaged in the practice of med¬ 
icine in Nash county until 1873, and after that date at 
Wilson, his present home. He was married in 1862 to 
Sarah S. Vick, who died in 1892, leaving seven children: 
Doane, William, Lucy, wife of Dr. John A. Stevens, of 
Clinton; Robert, Sallie, Benjamin and Julia. In 1896 
Dr. Herring wedded Alice S., daughter of Dr. John Har¬ 
vey, of Greene county. 

Lieutenant Frederick J. Hill, a prominent tobacco 
dealer of Henderson, N. C., was born at Wilmington in 
1833, son of Dr. John Hill, who at the time of his death, 
in 1846, was president of the old Cape Fear bank. He 
was graduated in 1852 at the university of North Carolina 
and immediately took charge of his plantation in Madison 
county, Miss. In 1861 he was married to Sarah Watters, 
of Wilmington, N. C. He entered the Confederate 
service, May 15, 1862, as a private in Company D of the 
Twenty-eighth Mississippi cavalry, a regiment which 
rendered distinguished service in that State under the 
command of Col. P. B. Starke. He was on duty for about 
six months at Vicksburg, and subsequently on the courier 
line along the Mississippi river, with headquarters at 
Greenville, Miss. ; served in Tennessee under General 
Van Dorn, and under J. E. Johnston in the campaign for 
the relief of Vicksburg. He was distinguished for gal¬ 
lantry and had his horse shot under him at the battle of 
Franklin, Tenn. Soon after the fall of Vicksburg he 
received a commission from President Davis as second 
lieutenant, and was assigned to duty as drill-master in 
Virginia. Subsequently he was on duty as enrolling 
officer at Louisburg, N. C., until he was paroled at 
Raleigh, May 31, 1865. After the close of hostilities he 
returned to his plantation in Mississippi, where he 
remained until 1875 ; then was occupied with the manage¬ 
ment of a stock farm in northern Virginia until 1882, 
when he made his home at Henderson. He is now one 
of the leading business men of the city and highly 
respected by his fellow citizens. Thomas S. Hill, order¬ 
ly-sergeant of the Eighteenth Mississippi regiment, was 
killed in battle at Cold Harbor. 


540 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Lieutenant John Hampden Hill, a prominent citizen 
of Goldsboro, N. C., served in the Confederate States 
troops as an officer of the Fortieth North Carolina regi¬ 
ment. Two brothers were also in this patriotic service, 
Dr. Thomas Hill, now residing at Goldsboro, and Ga¬ 
briel H. Hill, of Charlottesville, Va. Mr. Hill was born 
in Chatham county, October 14, 1834, and was reared in 
Brunswick county, near Wilmington, where he received 
his primary education. He attended St. Timothy’s hall, 
Catonsville, Md., four years, and in 1854 was graduated 
at Chapel Hill. He then engaged in farming, first at 
his father’s home, until he was married, in 1858, to Mary 
L., daughter of Thomas Bunting, when he made his 
home at Sunflower, Miss. Early in the winter of 1863 
he enlisted at Smithville, N. C., in Company H., Forti¬ 
eth regiment, and was commissioned second lieutenant 
by Governor Vance. With this command he was at Fort 
Anderson during the bombardment, and in the battles 
of Tom’s Creek, Wilmington, Northeast River, Wise’s 
Fork, near Kinston, and Bentonville, receiving a wound 
in the left leg at the latter battle. After the surrender 
at Greensboro he made his home at Clinton, and em¬ 
barked in the drug business. He had the misfortune to 
lose his property by fire in 1877, and he then removed to 
Goldsboro, where he held the office of postmaster under 
President Cleveland’s first administration, and since 1895 
has held by repeated elections the office of mayor of the 
city. Lieutenant Hill has five children living: John 
Holmes, Mary A., wife of R. D. Cromly, Elizabeth H., 
Louisa and Minnie Beall Hill. 

Thomas Hill, M. D., late surgeon, C. S. A., was bom 
in Sampson county, N. C., in 1832, and was reared at 
Wilmington. He was graduated at St. Timothy’s hall, 
Md., in 1847, and then studied in the university of North 
Carolina, until, in the midst of the junior year, he turned 
his attention to the study of medicine. In 1854 he was 
graduated in this profession at the university of the city 
of New York, and received appointment as assistant 
surgeon in the United States navy. After several 
months’ service in this capacity, he resigned his commis¬ 
sion and resided for three years at Salisbury, where he 
was married, in 1858, to Mary C. McConnaughey. Re¬ 
moving then to Brunswick county, he practiced his pro- 



CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


641 


fession and engaged in rice planting until the first alarm 
of war, when he entered the Confederate service, in 
April, 1861. He was commissioned assistant surgeon, 
Confederate States army, in July, 1861, and from that 
date until March, 1862, was in charge of the general hos¬ 
pital of the army at Fredericksburg, Va. Subsequently 
he was in charge of the general hospital at Goldsboro 
until May, 1862, when he was promoted surgeon in the 
regular army and appointed to the presidency of the 
medical examining board at Raleigh; also put in charge 
of the general hospital, No. 8, at Raleigh, the building 
now known as the Peace institute. Remaining there 
until April, 1864, he then was assigned as surgeon to the 
Fortieth regiment, North Carolina troops, and in Decem¬ 
ber following was appointed chief surgeon of the North 
Carolina reserves, on the staff of General Holmes. After 
this distinguished career, which was brought to a close 
by the surrender at Greensboro, he practiced his profes¬ 
sion at Salisbury two years, then at Kenansville until 
1871, and afterward at Danville, Mo., until 1876, when 
he returned to Salisbury, and in 1881 made his home at 
Goldsboro, where he has since been prominent in his 
profession. He has served for many years as coroner for 
Wayne county. 

William Henry Hill, a retired farmer of Franklin 
county, N. C., of which he is a native, born February 
22, 1841, is one of the survivors of the gallant Forty- 
seventh regiment, North Carolina State troops, and had 
the good fortune to take part in every engagement of his 
command without receiving a wound or falling into the 
hands of the enemy. He enlisted in June, 1861, in Com¬ 
pany E of the Forty-seventh, as third sergeant of his 
company, and under the leadership of the lamented Pet¬ 
tigrew, went into the thick of the fight with the army of 
Northern Virginia. After many famous battles and cam¬ 
paigns, he marched with the remnant of the army under 
Lee from Richmond and Petersburg, and after enduring 
great hardships was surrendered at Appomattox. On his 
return to North Carolina he made his home in Wake 
county and engaged in farming, and in 1867 was married 
to Miss Tempie H. Gee, a union to which have been born 
five sons and three daughters. Three of his sons are in 
business at Louisburg. Since 1869 Mr. Hill has carried 


542 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


on farming with much success in Franklin county, tmt 
since 1895 has been retired from the active duties of his 
occupation. 

Samuel H. Hilton, a noted cavalry scout of the army 
of Northern Virginia, was born in Lancaster county, 
S. C., July 6, 1844. His father, Capt. Aurelius Hilton, a 
native of the same county, married Annie, daughter of 
Rev. Thomas Lee, a Baptist minister of White Plain, 
S. C., and in 1845 removed to North Carolina, settling in 
Union and later in Mecklenburg county. He attained 
his military rank of captain in the State militia in South 
Carolina. Young Hilton was educated at the White 
Plain academy, and previous to the beginning of hostil¬ 
ities in 1861 was the youngest member of the Mecklen¬ 
burg dragoons. On May 1st he left school, and the 
dragoons having disbanded, joined the Hornet’s Nest 
Riflemen, of which also he was the youngest soldier, and 
served in the Bethel regiment at Yorktown, Va., for 
six months, the term of its enlistment, and then in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1862, enlisted in Company C of the First North 
Carolina cavalry. He was with this gallant regiment 
through the Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond, 
and just after the battle of Malvern Hill distinguished 
himself by the capture of four Federal soldiers. He was 
on picket duty at daybreak, armed only with an Enfield 
rifle, when he saw four bluecoats advancing, whom he 
instantly hailed and demanded their surrender, mean¬ 
while calling to imaginary comrades in the woods. The 
stratagem succeeded, and at his request the four infantry 
men gave up their guns and marched into the Confeder¬ 
ate camp as prisoners. The gallant Barringer, captain 
of the squadron and afterward general, was astounded at 
this piece of cool bravery, and Hilton was ordered to 
report to headquarters, where he was asked what reward 
he desired. He modestly expressed himself as satisfied 
with his position as a private, but made known his desire 
to become an independent scout. He was immediately 
detailed as such, and in this capacity he led an adventur¬ 
ous career during the remainder of the war, attached to 
the headquarters of Gen. Wade Hampton and later of 
Gen. W. H. F. Lee. Reconnoitering, capturing strag¬ 
glers of the enemy, carrying messages, etc., were but a 
part of his interesting life as a soldier, which it would 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


543 


require a volume to relate. He was twice wounded, and 
finally, while bearing messages near Petersburg, with two 
companions, a guide and an attendant, he was surrounded 
and captured, June 21, 1864. He made a gallant attempt 
to escape, riding at full speed under a rattling fire, only 
to run into the guns of another body of the enemy, who 
compelled his surrender. He was carried before Grant at 
City Point and finally to Point Lookout, where he was 
exchanged November 14, 1864. In January, 1865, he 
returned to the army and continued on duty to the end. 
Since then he has resided in Mecklenburg county and the 
city of Charlotte, engaged as a farmer, miller, and real 
estate dealer. He has served his county as magistrate, 
judge of the county court, and for eight years as member 
of the county board of commissioners, and is a past com¬ 
mander of Mecklenburg camp. By his marriage in 1866 
to Margaret A. Icehower, he has a daughter, Mrs. Flor¬ 
ence Erwin, of Charlotte. 

Peter E. Hines, A. M., M. D., distinguished in the 
medical service of the Confederate States army, was 
born in Warren county, N. C., in 1828, the son of Rich¬ 
ard Hines, a prominent lawyer, member of the North 
Carolina legislature in 1824, and a representative in the 
United States Congress. He is also a descendant of Col. 
Jonas Johnston, a revolutionary hero of the State. 
He was reared at Raleigh and educated at Chapel Hill, 
with graduation in 1849, after which he was graduated 
in medicine at the university of Pennsylvania, in 1852. 
He continued his professional studies in the hospitals 
and schools of Paris, and then returned to Raleigh, in 
1854, and embarked in the practice. When the war 
broke out, in 1861, he had been engaged for about two 
years in farming in Craven county, having temporarily 
retired from practice, but on May 20th, he received a com¬ 
mission as surgeon in the provisional army of the Confed¬ 
erate States. After first being in charge of the camp of 
instruction at Raleigh, he was appointed surgeon of the 
First North Carolina infantry, the Bethel regiment. He 
was with this command one month, and then was detailed 
to establish the first hospital at Yorktown, Va., where he 
was in charge until September. He was next with the first 
North Carolina hospital at Petersburg until June, 1862, 
when he was made medical director of the department of 


544 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Petersburg, by order of General Ransom. In this capac¬ 
ity, and after October as senior surgeon in charge of all 
hospitals at that post, he remained at Petersburg until 
September, 1863, when he was appointed medical director 
of the general hospitals of North Carolina, by authority 
of the secretary of war. With headquarters at Raleigh, 
he served in this capacity until paroled at Greensboro. 
During the next six years he remained upon his planta¬ 
tion in Craven county, and then made his home at Ral¬ 
eigh and resumed the practice of medicine, at once assum¬ 
ing a position in the general practice analogous to his 
distinguished rank in the military service. He was presi¬ 
dent of the State medical association in 1876, was presi¬ 
dent of the State board of medical examiners from 1878 
to 1884, and in various other ways has been recognized 
as one of the leading professional men of the State. 

Colonel John Wetmore Hinsdale, of Raleigh, one of 
the most prominent attorneys of North Carolina, was 
born at Buffalo, N. Y., February 4, 1843, the son of 
Samuel Johnston Hinsdale, of Fayetteville, N. C. 
Brought to North Carolina in his infancy, he was reared 
and given a preparatory education at Fayetteville, after 
which he studied three years at Chapel Hill, the State 
university, which he left at the close of his junior year, 
in April, 1861, to enter the military service. He was 
first attached to the staff of his uncle, Gen. T. H. Holmes, 
by appointment of Governor Clark, with the rank of sec¬ 
ond lieutenant. He reported to General Holmes just at 
the close of the battle of First Manassas, and remained 
with him until January, 1862, when he was assigned to 
the staff of General Pettigrew as adjutant-general of the 
brigade. In this capacity he participated in the battle of 
Seven Pines, and after the capture of Pettigrew, in the 
same line of duty with General Pender during the Seven 
Days’ campaign. When General Holmes was ordered to 
the Trans-Mississippi department, Lieutenant Hinsdale 
accompanied him as a member of the staff and remained 
in that field, meanwhile participating in the battle of 
Helena, Ark., until 1864, when he returned to North 
Carolina with General Holmes, and was on duty as adjut¬ 
ant-general until January, 1865. He was then, at the 
age of twenty-two years, elected colonel of the Third 
regiment, Junior reserves, which he commanded in the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 545 

battles of Kinston and Bentonville, and surrendered with 
General Johnston at High Point. With the close of hos¬ 
tilities he took up the study of law and was graduated by 
the law school of Columbia college, New York, and 
admitted to the bar of that State in 1866. In the same 
year he was admitted to practice in North Carolina and 
afterward in the supreme court of the United States. 
He first practiced his profession at Fayetteville, and while 
residing there was married in 1869 to a daughter of Maj. 
John Devereux. Removing to Raleigh in 1875 he soon 
took a high place at the bar of that city, and since then 
has become particularly distinguished in the railroad, 
insurance and general corporation practice. In 1878 he 
published an annotated edition of Winston’s North Caro¬ 
lina reports, which added to his repute as a sound and 
discriminating lawyer. He has given his attention 
strictly to his profession, without straying into the 
attractive and commonly associated field of politics. 
Socially he is one of the most hospitable and popular 
men of the city. 

Captain Samuel A. Hoey, a gallant Confederate vet¬ 
eran of Shelby, was born in Union county, S. C., in 1840, 
and was educated at the military academy conducted by 
Gen. Micah Jenkins. In April, 1861, with a squad of 
seven men from Cleveland county, N. C., he joined Com¬ 
pany F of the Fifth South Carolina regiment, and with 
that command was on duty on Sullivan’s island, Charles¬ 
ton harbor, as private. He was promoted to drill-master 
by Governor Ellis, of North Carolina, with rank of lieu¬ 
tenant, and was ordered to Yorktown, Va., and was then 
elected first lieutenant of Captain Corbett’s Fifth North 
Carolina volunteer company. In July, 1861, the governor 
of North Carolina called for additional regiments, and he 
went to his home and organized a company of which he 
was commissioned captain. This was assigned to the 
Thirty-fourth regiment, North Carolina troops. He 
started with his command for the relief of Roanoke 
island, but that point was captured before their arrival. 
In the spring of 1862 his regiment was ordered to Rich¬ 
mond, in General Pender’s brigade, A. P. Hill’s division, 
Stonewall Jackson’s corps, and he participated in the 
battle of Frayser’s Farm and other engagements during 
the campaign between Lee and McClellan on the penin- 


546 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


stila. He was subsequently in battle at Cedar mountain, 
Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. At 
this time he was senior captain of his regiment and was 
offered the rank of lieutenant-colonel, but being under 
twenty-one years of age he would not accept this honor. 
Resigning his commission as captain, he joined Hamp¬ 
ton’s legion. Under General Hoke he participated in 
the capture of Plymouth and the engagement at Little 
Washington, and then, returning to Virginia, was in the 
battle of Hanover Court House, where he was captured 
by the enemy. Subsequently he was confined at Point 
Lookout, Md., and Elmira prison, N. Y., until after the 
close of the war. Then returning to his home he busied 
himself with the carpenter’s trade, and is now a promi¬ 
nent and prosperous contractor and builder. He was 
married, in 1865, to Mary C. C. Roark. Their children 
are, William Rufus, Samuel E., Clyde R., Nellie Belle, 
wife of R. C. Warren, and Eula May. 

Bloom V. Holcomb, of Mount Airy, N. C., was born in 
Yadkin county, December 1, 1844, and there entered the 
Confederate service in 1863, as a private of Company I, 
Twenty-eighth regiment, North Carolina troops. His 
first campaign was in Pennsylvania, and his first battle, 
the world-famous encounter at Gettysburg, where he 
shared the gallant fighting and exhausting duties of 
Lane’s brigade of Wilcox’s division. Returning to Vir¬ 
ginia he spent the winter with his command at Liberty 
Mills, and in the spring of 1864 went into the bloody 
struggle at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court 
House, which was continued in lesser encounters thence 
to the James river. While engaged on the Cold Harbor 
line he was wounded, but soon afterward was again on 
duty in the Petersburg trenches. He served in the 
defense of Petersburg until the evacuation, and was close 
to the Crater when the famous mine explosion occurred 
and the Federal attempt to break the line was defeated. 
During the retreat to Appomattox he fought at Sailor’s 
Creek, April 6th, and was among the many captured on 
that occasion. As a prisoner of war he was held at Fort 
Delaware until June 20, 1865. After his release he 
made his home in Yadkin county mainly until his re¬ 
cent removal to Mount Airy, where he is engaged in 
business. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


547 


Lieutenant Alexander Quarles Holladay, a Confeder¬ 
ate soldier who has been prominent in the work of educa¬ 
tion during the era of peace which has followed, was born 
in Spottsylvania county, Va., in 1840, the great-grandson 
of Lewis Holladay, a major in the continental army, and 
son of Alexander R. Holladay, who represented his Vir¬ 
ginia district in the United States Congress before the 
war, and as president of the State board of public works 
rendered valuable services in connection with the salt 
supply of the armies. Young Holladay’s home was made 
at Richmond, in 1853, and his education was received in 
Richmond college, the university of Virginia and in 
Switzerland and Berlin. On April 17, 1861, he was mar¬ 
ried to Virginia Randolph, daughter of Thomas Bolling, 
of Bolling island, James river, and five days later he 
enlisted as a private in Company A of the Twentieth 
Virginia regiment. In the rank of junior second lieu¬ 
tenant, to which he was at once elected, he shared the 
exhausting service of this ill-fated command, skirmish¬ 
ing with the enemy in western Virginia before Rich 
mountain, and upon the retreat falling a victim to the 
prevalent typhoid fever, from which he had hardly 
recovered, when in January, 1862, the Twentieth having 
been disbanded, he joined S. T. Martin and W. F. G. 
Garnett, of Henrico county, in the organization of a 
company of light artillery, of which he was elected first 
lieutenant. His company was assigned to the Twelfth 
battalion, and he shared its service in the battles of Gaines’ 
Mill, Frayser’s Farm, Cold Harbor, Mechanicsville and 
the affair at Carrsville, and until the spring of 1863, when 
he was again disabled by sickness. When convalescent 
he was detailed in the quartermaster’s department at 
Richmond. Early in 1864 he was detailed to the staff of 
Gen. Braxton Bragg, with whom he served nearly one 
year in Richmond and North Carolina, parting with that 
officer at Chester, S. C., in April, 1865, with orders to 
report to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Greensboro, N. C., 
at whose headquarters he received his parole and bade 
farewell to the service. For a year after the close of 
hostilities he was a sufferer from disabilities incurred in 
the service. During the succeeding three years he man¬ 
aged his farm in Mecklenburg county, N. C., and then 
removed to Richmond, where he resided, with the excep¬ 
tion of one year at Bolling island, until 1880. Meanwhile 

Nc 58 


548 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


he served two terms in the Virginia senate by election 
in 1871 and 1873. Accepting, in 1880, the presidency of 
the Stonewall Jackson institute at Abingdon, he acted in 
that capacity until 1884, when he was called to the pro¬ 
fessorship of history and literature in the agricultural 
and mechanical college at Lake City, Fla., and a year 
later became the president of that institution. From this 
position in 1889 he was called to the presidency of the 
agricultural and mechanical college of North Carolina. 
His administration during the past decade has been most 
successful. 

Captain James Q. Holland, of Gastonia, was born in 
Gaston county, N. C., in 1846, a son of Washington F. 
Holland, a prominent business man of that period. He 
was a student at Davidson college during the early part 
of the war, left his studies in the spring of 1864 and 
entered the Confederate service as first lieutenant of 
Company C, Second regiment, North Carolina reserves. 
He was on duty with his command until the close of the 
war, soon after his enlistment being promoted to cap¬ 
tain. After the invasion by Sherman’s army he was a 
participant in several skirmishes with the enemy, and 
took part in the engagements at Kinston, at Belfield, 
Va., and served in the battle of Bentonville. Finally he 
was surrendered with the army under General Johnston 
at Greensboro. At the close of this military career, 
being but nineteen years of age, he was engaged for 
three years in farming and then embarked in mercantile 
pursuits at Charlotte. In 1877 he established his present 
business at Gastonia, in which he has met with much suc¬ 
cess. He is one of the prominent men of the town and 
an enterprising business man. By his marriage, in 1867, 
to Julia, daughter of Dr. J. F. Smyre, of Lincoln county, 
he has seven children, John Holland, a fine bookkeeper; 
Estella, wife of S. N. Boyce; Minnie, wife of Dr. J. E. 
Curry; Clara, Bessie, James and Leonard. 

William Henry Holloway, of Durham, entered the 
service of the Confederate States in March, 1862, as a 
private in Cameron’s battery of light artillery. He was 
stationed for some time at Richmond, in the camp of 
instruction, and afterward at Drewry’s bluff; going from 
there to the eastern part of North Carolina, where he 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


549 


was on duty until the surrender. Mr. Holloway was 
detailed during a great part of his service as a black¬ 
smith in the quartermaster’s department. It is an inter¬ 
esting fact in military history that many a promising 
campaign has failed for want of a blacksmith and horse- 
shoer. His work is indispensable to every cavalry com¬ 
mand, and in every line of service the lack of such skilled 
workmen would be severely felt. Mr. Holloway did 
faithfully the work that was assigned him, and is 
deserving of mention as a true and loyal North Caroli¬ 
nian. He was born in Orange county in 1842, the son 
of Nathaniel Holloway. He learned his trade with his 
father, and since the restoration of peace has carried it 
on in Durham, acquiring a competency and winning the 
esteem of his fellow citizens. He was married, in 1869, 
to Mary J., daughter of William J. Duke and a niece of 
Washington Duke, and they have seven children living. 

A. B. Hollowell, adjutant of Thomas Ruffin camp, 
United Confederate Veterans, at Goldsboro, was born in 
Wayne county in 1847. He entered the Confederate 
service in the spring of 1863 as a private in Company H 
of the First North Carolina cavalry, and from that date 
served under the gallant Gordon and Barringer until his 
command, having cut through the Federal lines at Appo¬ 
mattox Court House, was disbanded at Lynchburg. 
Among the engagements in which he participated were 
the cavalry fights attending the battles of the Wilderness 
and Second Cold Harbor, Hanover Court House, the 
engagements around Petersburg and Richmond, ending 
at Five Forks, and the battle of Sailor’s Creek on the 
retreat of Lee’s army. 

James Monroe Hollo well, of Goldsboro, a veteran of 
the North Carolina troops, was born in Wayne county in 
1840, and entered the State service on April 15, 1861, as 
a private in the Goldsboro Rifles. About a month later 
he was enrolled in a company for the heavy artillery. 
When it was mustered in as Company F, Tenth regiment, 
heavy artillery, he was appointed quartermaster-ser¬ 
geant. In this capacity he served with the artillery two 
years, and subsequently one year as first sergeant, dur¬ 
ing these periods participating in various active duty, 
including the battle of Fort Macon, April 25, 1862, and 


550 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the fight with gunboats below Wilmington. At Fort 
Macon he was captured, but being at once paroled was 
exchanged in the following August. In 1864, on account 
of failing health, he was detailed for duty in the office of 
General Hebert, commanding the defenses at the mouth 
of Cape Fear river, but his health growing worse he was 
sent to his home at Goldsboro. While there, however, 
he was employed in the office of Gen. L. S. Baker, in 
district command. He was finally paroled at Goldsboro 
by General Schofield. Remaining at that city, he soon 
afterward entered the railroad service, in which he has 
been engaged during most of the intervening period. He 
was agent of the Atlantic & North Carolina road at Golds¬ 
boro until 1868, when he was removed for political rea¬ 
sons, after which he served as city clerk and tax collector 
until 1871. From 1873 to 1887 he was agent of the Rich¬ 
mond & Danville road, at Goldsboro, subsequently was 
agent for brief periods at Danville and Winston, and in 
other railroad employment. He became bookkeeper for 
the Goldsboro national bank in 1896, and in December, 
1897, was promoted to cashier. In August, 1861, Mr. 
Hollowell was married to Martha J. Outlaw, daughter of 
B. R. Hood. 

Cicero Kohler Holmes, a prominent citizen of Lexing¬ 
ton, is one of the survivors of the gallant naval brigade 
of the army of Northern Virginia, in 1865, that fought at 
Sailor’s Creek, on the retreat from Richmond, until after 
all the rest of Ewell’s command had surrendered, and 
then were cheered by the Federals when they laid down 
their arms. It was after Generals Ewell, Kershaw, Bar¬ 
ton, G. W. C. Lee, DuBose, Hunton and Corse had given 
up the unequal struggle that these heroes under Commo¬ 
dore Tucker yielded to an overwhelming foe. Mr. 
Holmes was born in Davidson county, N. C., January 
19, 1846, and at the age of eighteen years, in January, 
1864, he enlisted in the Confederate naval service. He 
was first stationed at Wilmington, where he served in 
various capacities, mostly as coxswain of the captain’s 
gig, with one of the gunboats, until the fall of Fort 
Fisher and the evacuation of Wilmington, when he went 
to Richmond and was stationed with his comrades at 
Drewry’s bluff, one of the most important fortified posts 
in the defenses of Richmond. He served there until 


1 * 
Wi 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


551 


Richmond, too, was evacuated, when he joined in the 
retreat of the army with Ewell’s corps. He was released 
as a prisoner of war, so that he reached home July 3, 
1865, when he soon occupied himself in farming and con¬ 
tinued in that pursuit until 1884, when he engaged in the 
lumber trade, his present business. 

Captain Lewis Clark Hanes, postmaster of Lexing¬ 
ton, N. C., during the last administration of President 
Cleveland, was born at Fulton, Davie county, August 31, 
1827, and enlisted at Lexington, April 1, 1862, in a vol¬ 
unteer company which became Company B of the Forty- 
eighth regiment, North Carolina troops, Col. Robert C. 
Hill. This regiment went into Virginia under the bri¬ 
gade command of General Ransom, and participated in 
the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, serving gal¬ 
lantly at Gaines’ Mill, Cold Harbor aud Malvern Hill, 
and subsequently was identified with the army of North¬ 
ern Virginia, and was heard from on almost every field 
where Confederate valor was made famous. Captain 
Hanes was with his regiment as quartermaster and 
commissary, to which he was promoted from quarter¬ 
master of his company before the regiment went into 
the field, through all its service, including the battles of 
Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, the Wil¬ 
derness, Spottsylvania, and the defense of Petersburg. 
Just before the evacuation he was sent to Salisbury to 
collect supplies, and from there he reported to General 
Johnston at Greensboro, who assigned him to the same 
duty. After the surrender at Greensboro he returned to 
his home, and then was engaged in the timber business 
in Florida until 1867, when he returned to Lexington, 
which has since been his home. 

Lieutenant Ethelred J. Holt, a gallant officer of the 
Sixteenth North Carolina cavalry battalion, now a promi¬ 
nent merchant of Smithfield, N. C., was born October 2, 
1839, near Princeton, Johnston county, N. C. His first 
enlistment, June 1, 1861, was in Company I, Twenty- 
fourth North Carolina regiment, but on account of pro¬ 
tracted sickness, he was honorably discharged. On 
March 7, 1862, he joined Company A, Sixteenth battalion, 
as a private. A few months later he was made orderly- 
sergeant, and in April, 1862, was promoted to senior sec- 


552 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ond lieutenant; in December, 1863, to first lieutenant, and 
from September 30, 1864, until General Lee’s surrender, 
April 9, 1865, he was in command of his company. In 
January, 1865, he was recommended for promotion to the 
rank of captain. He also served a portion of 1863 as 
adjutant and quartermaster, and was for a time on the 
staff of Major-General Pickett. Among the engagements 
in which he participated were the skirmishes around 
Suffolk and Franklin, Va., and in eastern North Carolina 
around Kinston, New Bern and Washington, and the 
battles of Drewry’s Bluff, Bermuda Hundred and all the 
cavalry fighting on General Lee’s right, from May, 1864, 
to the surrender, including Reams’ Station, Hatcher’s 
Run, Five Forks, Sailor’s Creek, Farmville and Appo¬ 
mattox. He was wounded, September 30, 1864, at Pop¬ 
lar Spring church, and again, April 5th, near Farmville, 
Va., and on April 9, 1865, the last day of battle for the 
army of Northern Virginia, he had his horse killed under 
him while leading the last charge made by any of Lee’s 
forces. At Appomattox, as senior officer present, he 
had command of the cavalry brigades of Generals Rob¬ 
erts and Barringer, and signed the paroles for the rem¬ 
nants of the two brigades. After his return to North 
Carolina, in April, 1865, he located in Catawba county, 
N. C., and engaged in merchandising until 1868, when 
he removed to Wayne county and engaged in farming. 
In 1871 he returned to his native county and engaged in 
the lumber business. In the fall of 1872 he was elected 
sheriff and served one term. In 1874 he was elected to 
represent his county in the State legislature and again in 
1878. In 1876 he was elected by the people as a member 
of the board of county commissioners and again in 1880. 
In 1885 he moved to Smithfield and engaged in the 
Jiardware business. In 1888 he was again called to serve 
the people, as county treasurer, to which office he was 
elected for three terms. In January, 1868, he was mar¬ 
ried to Miss Sarah M. Cox, of Wayne county, who died 
in 1871. In 1874 he married Miss Jane Gaston Sneed, 
by whom he has four children: Stephen Sneed, the pres¬ 
ent editor of the Smithfield Herald; Ethel Jane, Richard 
Rowan and William Norman. Captain Holt is descended 
from a patriotic North Carolina family. His only living 
brothers, Lieut. William N. Holt, of the Fifty-fifth North 
Carolina regiment, and Sergt. John W. Holt, of the Six- 






THOMAS M. HOLT 









CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 553 

teenth battalion, were brave and gallant soldiers. His 
great-grandfather, James Holt, held the rank of ensign 
in the continental army, and his grandfather, Ethelred 
Holt, was a soldier in the war of 1812. In politics he is 
an unswerving Democrat and in religion a Methodist. 

Thomas M. Holt, Confederate soldier, former governor 
of North Carolina, and captain of industry, to whom the 
famous mills on Haw river are a fit and abiding monu¬ 
ment, was born July 5, 1831, in that part of Orange 
county now known as Alamance and died at Haw River 
in 1896. He was the son of Edwin M. Holt, who estab¬ 
lished the first cotton mill in central North Carolina, and 
was equally successful in the management of extensive 
agricultural interests. Thomas M. was educated at 
Caldwell institute, and the university of North Carolina, 
where he was a student in the class of Judge Settle, Sen¬ 
ator Vance, Judge W. A. Moore, Prof. W. C. Kerr, 
Kemp P. Battle and others of later prominence. Leav¬ 
ing college in December, 1850, he studied business meth¬ 
ods at Philadelphia, and then entered into the manufac¬ 
ture of cotton with his father. In December, i860, they 
centered their enterprise at the Alamance cotton mills 
on Haw river, where now the factories controlled by the 
Holts operate about 23,000 spindles and 1,000 looms and 
employ 1,100 people. Early in 1861 he entered the mil¬ 
itary service of his State and the Confederacy, and was 
on duty during that year, but upon the reorganization 
in the spring of 1862, it was recognized that his services 
were indispensable in the department of manufacture 
and supply, quite as essential to the success of the 
struggle as carrying a gun in the field, and he was 
returned to the management of the cotton and flour mills 
on the Haw river. In 1862 he became the sole owner of 
the mills there, and he increased the spindles to 1,000 
and ran them night and day, making yarns, during the 
continuance of the war. Promptly accepting the situa¬ 
tion at the close of the struggle, and foreseeing that the 
South must win future greatness in the channel marked 
out by the genius of the age, he began making brick to 
enlarge his mill, ten days after the surrender of General 
Lee, and in November of the same year was the first 
man to go on the market from the South to buy machin¬ 
ery for the manufacture of cotton. Since then the hum 


554 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of the mills on the Haw has never ceased, no strike or 
lockout has ever disturbed the friendly and loving rela¬ 
tions of employer and workman, and after a peaceful 
warfare of thirty years, this commander of industry had 
the satisfaction before his death of seeing, near at hand, 
the defeat of New England by the South, without blood¬ 
shed or hatred, under the laws of the nation, and for the 
good of the whole people. The plants at Haw River are 
owned almost exclusively by Governor Holt’s sons and 
sons-in-law. Near the town which he built, adjoining the 
mills, he had a handsome residence, but his favorite place 
was Linwood, the famous plantation where he raised fine 
stock and the wheat which won the medal at the Colum¬ 
bian exposition. His devotion to agriculture was also 
attested by many years’ service as president of the State 
agricultural society and his prominence in the establish¬ 
ment of the agricultural department of the State govern¬ 
ment. In railroad development also he had been con¬ 
spicuous, as a director of the North Carolina railroad 
from 1869 and president from 1875 until 1891. In official 
life he also attained the highest honors. When only 
twenty-one years of age he became a magistrate, at that 
time an office of much honor, and was chairman of the 
board of finance of his county. From 1872 to 1876 he 
was chairman of the board of county commissioners, 
being elected without regard to party lines, and he then 
became State senator. In 1883, 1885 and 1887 he was a 
member of the house of representatives, was speaker 
of the house in 1885, and in 1888 was elected lieuten¬ 
ant-governor. Upon the death of Governor Fowle, in 
April, 1891, he became governor of the State, an office 
in which he manifested great ability and the highest 
patriotism. He was also a leader in the promotion of 
education, greatly aided the State university and David¬ 
son college, and in 1895 received from the university the 
degree of LL. D. Governor Holt was married in Octo¬ 
ber, 1855, to Louisa M., daughter of Samuel and Mary 
A. (Bethel) Moore, and became the father of five chil¬ 
dren: Charles T., Cora M., Louise M., Ella M., wife of 
Charles B. Wright, of Wilmington, and Thomas M., Jr., 
deceased. Charles T. Holt, eldest son of the foregoing, 
was born in Rockingham county, N. C., in 1858, and 
was educated at Davidson college. Going to Massachu¬ 
setts, he served an apprenticeship as a machinist, and 



























































































































































E. B. HAYWOOD 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


555 


after gaining a thorough acquaintance with the machinery 
of cotton mills, returned to take charge of the Haw River • 
mills. Since the death of his father he has been presi¬ 
dent of the three mills, the Granite, T. M. Holt and 
Cora. In 1894 he was married to Eugenie, daughter of 
Governor Jones, of Alabama. Cora M., daughter of 
Governor Holt, was married in 1880 to Dr. Edward 
Chambers Laird, who was born in Mecklenburg county, 
Va., in 1854, son of Dr. Alexander Thompson Laird and 
his wife Virginia, daughter of Judge Edward R. Cham¬ 
bers, of Virginia. He was graduated at the Virginia mil¬ 
itary institute in 1875, an d at the medical department of 
the university of Baltimore in 1877. He is now engaged 
in the practice at Haw River, and is interested in the 
Holt mills. 

Edmund Burke Haywood, M. D., distinguished in the 
medical service of the Confederate States army, born at 
Raleigh, January 13, 1825, died January 18, 1894, was a 
worthy descendant of a family for a long time identified 
with the history of North Carolina. The family had its 
origin in the county of Lancaster, England, where the 
name was written Hey wood. In 1662 John Hey wood 
emigrated to the island of Barbadoes, and thence his son, 
John Haywood, born on the island in 1684, removed to 
North Carolina, and settled in what is now Halifax 
county. He was one of the commissioners who con¬ 
structed Fort Johnston, at the mouth of Cape Fear river; 
was a colonel of militia, many times a member of the 
provincial assembly, and in 1752 was elected treasurer of 
the northern counties of the province. At the time of 
the revolution three of his sons were officers of the pro¬ 
vincial militia, the most distinguished being Col. William 
Haywood, who was a member of the committee of safety 
for Halifax district in 1775; of the State congress at 
Halifax, in April, 1776, and November, 1776; of the com¬ 
mittee which drafted the constitution and bill of rights; 
of the council of State in 1776; was one of the commis¬ 
sioners who signed the revolutionary currency of the 
State, and a member of the legislature at Smithfield in 
1779. The eldest son of Colonel Haywood, and father 
of Dr. Haywood, was John Haywood, born 1755, who 
was one of the commissioners who selected the site of the 
university of North Carolina, and a trustee of the same; 


556 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


was prominent in the Episcopal church, and for forty 
years and until his death, in 1827, was treasurer of State. 
The town and county of Haywood perpetuate his name. 
Dr. Haywood lost both his father and mother by death, 
when about three years old, and was intrusted to the 
care of his eldest sister, Eliza, a woman of the rarest 
graces of mind and body, who devoted the best years of 
her life to his care. As a student of the lamented Mc- 
Pheeters and Lovejoy, he early manifested the remark¬ 
able intellectual ability which characterized his life, and 
at the university of North Carolina was one of the four 
who led the famous class of 1847, the class of Pettigrew 
and Ransom, Poole and Haywood. From this institution 
he also received the degrees of A. M. and LL. D. The 
degree of doctor of medicine he received from the uni¬ 
versity of Pennsylvania, in 1849. In 1861, at the first 
call to arms, he volunteered in the Raleigh light infantry 
and was made surgeon of the State troops, and soon after¬ 
ward examining surgeon and medical director. In 1862, 
being commissioned surgeon, C. S. A., he was on duty at 
Seabrook hospital during the campaign before Rich¬ 
mond. Soon after this he was put in charge of the gen¬ 
eral hospitals at Raleigh, of which the Pettigrew hospital 
was the most noted. Here his consummate skill as a 
surgeon, his accuracy and untiring industry, soon placed 
him in the very front rank of his profession. After the 
surrender of the Confederate armies his services were 
freely given without hope of compensation, and his own 
slender means were devoted to the care of the sick and 
wounded until the last soldier left the hospital in July, 
1865. During the war his successes in surgery were 
among the greatest recorded in the professional annals 
of the State. He rendered valuable services to the com¬ 
monwealth, without compensation, in the departments of 
public philanthropy, and greatly ameliorated the con¬ 
dition of the insane during his directorship of the State 
hospital, from 1866 to 1889. Subsequently he was chair¬ 
man of the board of public charities. He also served as 
physician to the Peace institute and the asylum for the 
deaf, dumb and blind at Raleigh. His eminence as a 
physician was recognized by the professional societies of 
other States and countries. He was honored with the 
presidency of the Raleigh academy of medicine, of which 
he was a founder, and in 1868 was president of the State 







































" 
































































































B. HOLT 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


557 


society. For more than a quarter of a century he was a 
vestryman of Christ church, Raleigh, and he maintained 
his comradeship with the Confederate veterans as a mem¬ 
ber of Junius Daniel camp at Raleigh. Alfred W. Hay¬ 
wood, second son of the foregoing, at eight years of age 
assisted his father in hospital duty and did what he could 
to aid in providing for his family when the progress of 
Sherman’s army left them bereft of property. He was 
graduated with first honors at Horner’s military school, 
and then after four years’ business training as teller in 
the Citizens’ national bank, entered the law school of 
Chief Justice Pearson, where he was graduated, as vale¬ 
dictorian of his class, in 1876. During the eighteen 
years of professional career which followed, he attained 
great success as a lawyer, particularly in corporation 
practice; won prominence in the councils of the Demo¬ 
cratic party, and had important business connections. 
On May 23, 1873, he was married to Louise M., daughter 
of Gov. Thomas M. Holt, and in 1895, at the request of 
the latter, he abandoned his law practice and assumed 
part of the care of management of the vast manufactur¬ 
ing interests established by Governor Holt. He is now 
one of the executors of the Holt estate and vice-president 
of the Granite manufacturing company, the Thomas M. 
Holt manufacturing company, and the Cora manufactur¬ 
ing company, all engaged in the manufacture of cotton 
goods. 

Lieutenant L. Banks Holt, of Graham, Alamance 
county, N. C., a son of Edwin M. Holt, the pioneer of 
the great cotton manufacturing industry, now carried on 
in Alamance county by his descendants, was born Janu¬ 
ary 28, 1842, and was educated at Dr. Alex Wilson’s 
school and the military academy at Hillsboro. He 
entered this academy in 1859, and left in the spring of 
1861 to serve with the Orange Guards in the occupation 
of Fort Macon. After two months’ service there he 
joined the regiment of Col. Charles Fisher, the Sixth 
North Carolina State troops, and served as drill-master 
until after the first battle of Manassas, in which the regi¬ 
ment became famous. He participated in that engage¬ 
ment and was commissioned as first lieutenant and 
assigned to the Eighth North Carolina regiment, with 
which he served at Roanoke island, and was captured 


558 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


with his regiment by the Federal troops. After his 
exchange his regiment participated in numerous battles 
and in the engagements at Charleston, S. C., Savannah, 
Ga., and the capture of Plymouth. After the latter cam¬ 
paign he was ordered to Petersburg with his regiment 
and took part in some of the most desperate combats of 
the war in the vicinity of that place. He was severely 
wounded in the head at the battle of Petersburg, and 
after recovering and joining his regiment he was ordered 
with his regiment to Chaffin’s Farm, where he was shot 
through the thigh at the battle of Fort Harrison, another 
ball cutting through his hair as he stopped to care for his 
wound. Being captured by the enemy, he was taken to 
hospital at Fortress Monroe and afterward imprisoned at 
Old Capitol prison, Point Lookout and Fort Delaware 
until June i, 1865. After his return to North Carolina, 
he became associated with the Alamance cotton mill, 
built and owned by his father, and in 1868 was interested 
in the building of the Carolina cotton factory, and is still 
a part owner in each of these pioneer factories. In 1880 
he and his brother built the celebrated Bellemont mills 
near Graham, he now being its sole owner and also sole 
proprietor of the Oneida mills at Graham; a partner in 
the Altamahaw mill, a stockholder in the E. M. Holt 
plaid mill at Burlington, in the Asheville cotton mills 
at Asheville, N. C., Mineola manufacturing company at 
Gibsonville, N. C., and other cotton mills. His business 
also includes banking and agriculture, his celebrated 
Alamance and Oak Grove farms being devoted to the 
breeding of standard horses, cattle and sheep, and are 
the most famous in the South. The business career in 
which he has been instrumental in achieving the great 
commercial victories of the South in cotton manufacture, 
has been marked by the characteristics of the family, of 
which he is a prominent member, shrewd and successful 
management, and generous and humane regard for his 
humbler associates "in industry. In the busy life that 
L. Banks Holt leads, in all the intelligent and well-direct¬ 
ed efforts that he puts forth to build up the agricultural 
interest, the manufacturing, the stock raising and the 
other interests of his State, there is no desire on his part 
to impress his individuality either on his friends or the 
public generally. On the contrary, Mr. Holt is a gen¬ 
tleman of retiring disposition, and what he does to win 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


559 


popular favor is born of a natural desire to move forward 
in the line of general progress. He is the personification 
of gentleness, integrity and industry, and these com¬ 
bined make him a man, a noble, big-hearted, big-brained 
man, capable of the accomplishment of big undertakings. 
Because of the gentleness of his nature he is well fitted 
for the easy control of the forces that are necessary aids 
in the establishment and operations of big industries, 
able at all times, because of his wisdom, his ripe experi¬ 
ence and his excellent judgment, to impress his ideas on 
his business associates. He has no political ambition 
and has never had any. He has always been earnestly 
desirous of good government, and has been among the 
first in his county to lend his influence to the ends he 
thought would best promote the prosperity and develop¬ 
ment of the State. He is a North Carolinian true to the 
core, loving her past, proud of her present, confident of 
her future. Lieutenant Holt was married in October, 
1865. His hospitable home is presided over by his 
charming wife, who was a daughter of Hon. Giles 
Mebane, of Caswell county, one of the most conspicuous 
patriots of the State. They have seven children: Mary 

V. , Bettie M., Fannie Y., Carrie B., Cora A., Emily L. 
and Mattie. At this writing four of them are married: 
Mary V., wife of Dr. George Allen Mebane; Bettie M., 
wife of M. B. Wharton, Jr.; Fannie Y., wife of Henry 

W. Scott, and Carrie B., wife of James K. Mebane. 

Morton B. Wharton, Jr., of Graham, is a son of the 

distinguished Rev. Morton B. Wharton, D. D., of Norfolk, 
Va., who served during the early part of the war of the 
Confederacy, in the department of the chief quartermas¬ 
ter of the army, rendered valuable service in the collec¬ 
tion of supplies, and in various other ways ministered to 
the forces in the field. His family is one of the oldest in 
Virginia, founded in America by Sir George Wharton, of 
Westmoreland, England. The subject of this sketch was 
born at Eufala, Ala., and during his childhood and youth 
resided in various parts of the South, as the residence of 
his father was changed from time to time, and accompa¬ 
nied his father to Germany, when the latter was appointed 
United States consul. He attended the university of 
Alabama in 1885-86, and the university of Virginia in 
1887-88, and prepared for the profession of law. In 1890 
he was married to Bettie Mebane, daughter of Lieut. L. 


560 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Banks Holt, and soon afterward relinquished the practice 
of law at Montgomery, Ala., to take charge of one of the 
Holt cotton mills, his present occupation, in addition to 
a partnership in the Oneida Store company at Graham. 

James H. Holt, deceased, the third son of Edwin M. 
and Emily Farrish Holt, was born in Alamance county, 
April 22, 1833. He was educated at the Caldwell insti¬ 
tute at Hillsboro, and at eighteen years of age entered 
business life as a clerk in his father’s store at Graham. 
For three years, after 1858, he was cashier of the branch 
bank at Graham, and subsequently filled the same posi¬ 
tion in the bank at Thomasville. Though the Holt fam¬ 
ily, so distinguished in the development of cotton man¬ 
ufacturing, was depended upon largely during the 
Confederate era for the work in mill and factory so indis¬ 
pensable to the successful establishment of the new 
government, yet several of them found occasion to do 
gallant duty at the front. The eldest brother, Thomas 
M., afterward governor, was in the military service dur¬ 
ing the first year of the war; L. Banks received honor¬ 
able wounds as a lieutenant and served throughout the 
war, and William E. served for a time in the Sixth regi¬ 
ment. James H. was no exception to the patriotic devo¬ 
tion of the family, and in 1864 he did faithful servioe as 
a private in Company K of the Tenth regiment, heavy 
artillery, North Carolina troops. He continued on mil¬ 
itary duty until the close of the struggle, and then 
returned to the work of manufacturing. In 1867 he 
supervised the building and equipment of the Carolina 
cotton mill, and in 1880 had the same duty in connection 
with the Glencoe mill. In both of these famous factories 
he was a stockholder, and was as well a director of the 
Commercial bank of Charlotte. By his marriage, in 
1856, to Laura C. Moore, he had seven sons: Walter L., 
Edwin C., Samuel M., James H. Jr., Robert L., Wil¬ 
liam I. and Ernest A. Edwin C., second son of the 
foregoing, was born in Alamance county in 1861, and 
was educated at Davidson college. Leaving college in 
1881, he had the management of the Carolina cotton mill 
five years, and then in partnership with his brother, 
Walter, built the Elmira cotton mill at Burlington, of 
which he is now secretary and treasurer. The mill has 
5,000 spindles, about 600 looms, and employs 300 oper- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


561 


atives. He is also vice-president of the Holt-Morgan cot¬ 
ton mill at Fayetteville, a still larger factory, and is 
president of the Lakeside mill and interested in the 
Glencoe, Alamance and Carolina mills. In 1893 he was 
married to Dolores Delgado, daughter of Bishop Stevens, 
of Charleston, S. C., and niece of Gen. Ellison Capers. 
James H. Holt, of Burlington, fourth son of James H. 
Holt, is a native of Alamance county, was educated at 
the university of North Carolina, and served his appren¬ 
ticeship in the family occupation of cotton manufacture 
at the Glencoe mill. In 1890, in connection with his 
brother, Robert, he built the Windsor cotton mill, of 
which he is now the manager. In 1894-95 he conducted 
the New York office for the sale of the cotton products of 
the mills. He is a stockholder in the Commercial bank 
of Charlotte and has other important interests. He has 
served six years in the State Guard as lieutenant and 
captain of Company F, Third regiment, and for four 
years was aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the 
staff of Governor Carr. 

Captain William J. Houston, a type of the gallant and 
cultured young professional men of North Carolina who 
sacrificed their lives in the cause of Southern independ¬ 
ence, was born in Duplin county, June 2, 1827, and was 
killed near Upperville, June 29, 1863. His parents were 
Samuel and Elizabeth Houston, among the most promi¬ 
nent people of the county. He was educated at Wake 
Forest and Columbia college, Washington city, with 
graduation in 1850. Then entering upon the profession 
of law at Kenansville, he rapidly took high rank as an 
attorney and gained prominence as a political leader. 
After several terms in the lower house of the legislature, 
he was elected senator from the Seventeenth district in 
1856, an office which he held until chosen solicitor for his 
judicial district in 1859. He was a member of the famous 
convention of the State in May, 1861, and resigned his 
seat therein, as well as his judicial office, to take com¬ 
mand of a cavalry company which he had organized, and 
which was mustered in as Company I, First regiment, 
North Carolina cavalry. He served with his regiment in 
Virginia during 1861, and at the close of the Seven 
Days’ battles before Richmond, in 1862, was captured at 
Malvern Hill, but exchanged soon afterward. He partici- 


562 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


pated in nearly all the battles of Stuart’s cavalry until 
his last fight at Upperville, preceding the Gettysburg 
campaign. In that encounter, in command of the dis¬ 
mounted men of General Gordon’s brigade, fighting des¬ 
perately against great odds, he was shot through the 
head and instantly killed. He was a man of promise, a 
lawyer of ability, remarkably effective as an orator, and 
at the time of his death was being urged by his friends 
as a candidate for the Confederate Congress. He enlisted 
his men with a promise that he would remain with them 
as captain, and on that account had declined two offers 
of promotion to the command of regiments. Two 
brothers of Captain Houston were also in the Confeder¬ 
ate service, Robert Houston, a prominent attorney of 
Wilmington, now deceased, and H. V. Houston, now of 
Greene county. This family is connected by marriage with 
the Carrolls, who were also distinguished in the Confed¬ 
erate service. Mary W., sister of the foregoing, was 
married to Maj. G. W. Carroll, who served in the reserve 
troops and had four brothers at the front. L. R. Carroll 
was color-bearer of his regiment; J. T. served in the 
same command; Rev. John L. Carroll, D. D., was also a 
Confederate soldier, and O. J. Carroll, recently United 
States marshal of the eastern district of North Carolina, 
ran away from home in his boyhood and joined the Con¬ 
federate artillery. These Confederate soldiers were 
great-grandsons of John Carroll, a soldier of the revolu¬ 
tion and a kinsman of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, a 
signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

William Houston Carroll, of Burlington, son of Maj. 
G. W. Carroll and Mary W. Houston, was born in Duplin 
county in 1862, and is now prominent as an attorney and 
is a worthy representative of the sons of veterans who 
have in their hands the destiny of the South. He was 
educated at the university of North Carolina, with gradua¬ 
tion in 1886, and completed the law course in 1889. He 
is chairman of the Democratic executive committee, and 
city attorney. In 1891 he was married to Sallie E. 
Turrentine. 

Benjamin Ashley Howard, a deserving Confederate 
veteran, now a merchant of Wilson, N. C., was born in 
Edgecombe county in 1843, and enlisted in April, 1861, 
in Company D of the Second North Carolina regiment of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


563 


infantry, one of the first ten regiments of the State. He 
fought in the Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond, 
at Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill, receiving a slight 
wound in the last engagement, and was next in battle at 
Cedar Run. At South Mountain he was so severely 
wounded in the right arm as to incapacitate him for fur¬ 
ther duty in the field. He remained with his command, 
however, as ambulance sergeant, and later in charge of 
the litter corps of the regiment, in which capacity he 
was present in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, the 
fighting in the trenches and about Petersburg, and the 
retreat to Appomattox. Returning home after the sur¬ 
render, ragged, barefooted and penniless, he engaged in 
farming, to which he has added in recent years the man¬ 
agement of a store. In 1866 he was married to Millicent 
E. Felton, and they have two children living: Benjamin 
E. and Mattie J., wife of John T. Williams. 

Philip A. Hoyle, of Newton, N. C., a Confederate sol¬ 
dier of the Twenty-third North Carolina regiment, was 
born in Catawba county, 1845, a son of Reuben Hoyle. 
His father was a faithful supporter of the Confederacy, 
and while on duty connected with the commissary depart¬ 
ment, contracted a disease which caused his death. 
Philip Hoyle enlisted in 1863, at the age of eighteen 
years, as a private in Company F of the Twenty-third 
regiment, and joined his command at Kelly’s ford, dur¬ 
ing the operations which followed the return of Lee’s 
army to Virginia after the battle of Gettysburg. He was 
in battle at Kelly’s ford and then at Mine Run, after 
which his regiment went into winter quarters. In May, 
1864, he went into battle with his command on the 5th, 
and was in action every day during the terrific struggle 
which followed in the Wilderness and in the vicinity of 
Spottsylvania Court House until May 12th, when he was 
among the many Confederate soldiers who were over¬ 
whelmed and captured in Hancock’s attack upon the 
bloody angle. From this time until July, 1865, he was 
a prisoner of war, confined first at Point Lookout and 
afterward at Elmira, N. Y. After his return to North 
Carolina, Mr. Hoyle completed his education at Ruther¬ 
ford college and then engaged in teaching school, which 
was his occupation during the next ten years. He gained 
much prominence in the political affairs of his county, 
Nc 59 


564 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and was elected clerk of the court in 1882. Since retiring 
from that office he has been engaged in agriculture, and 
has also taken an active part in public affairs as a member 
of the legislature of 1893, as a member of the board of 
education and as county commissioner. By his marriage, 
in 1871, to Martha S. Johnson, he has three children 
living: Walter T., Joseph N. and Robert Bruce. 

James D. Hufham, D. D., a distinguished divine of the 
Baptist church, and chaplain of Wyatt camp, United 
Confederate Veterans, at Henderson, N. C., was born in 
Duplin county in 1834. His father was Rev. George 
Hufham, a prosperous planter, who was the son of John 
Hufham, for a considerable time judge of the inferior 
court; and the latter was a son of John Hufham, a native 
of England, who came to America in 1736 and was a 
patriot soldier in the war of the revolution. Dr. Huf¬ 
ham’s mother was Frances Dunn, a native of Maryland. 
He was graduated at the Wake Forest college in 1856, as 
the valedictorian of his class, and immediately entered 
upon the work of the ministry in Duplin county. Four 
years later he became editor of the Biblical Recorder, of 
Raleigh. During the four years of war he was unwearied 
in his efforts for the promotion of the cause of the Con¬ 
federacy. First serving on the city committee for the 
care of the families of soldiers who had gone to the front, 
his field of effort gradually broadened until he was 
engaged in traveling all over the South procuring sup¬ 
plies for the army. The prosecution of these beneficent 
labors brought him in contact with many of the great 
leaders of the Confederacy, by whom he was recognized 
as a faithful and efficient coadjutor. He was at Raleigh 
when Sherman reached that city and when Grant arrived 
there to adjust the terms of surrender of Johnston’s 
army. The doctor is still a faithful and sympathizing 
friend of the surviving Confederate veterans. In 1868 
he was stationed as a minister in Camden county, and 
a few years later was put in charge of the missionary 
work of his church. Again for a short time he had 
charge of the Biblical Recorder, and while at Raleigh 
organized the Baptist Tabernacle church. During 
thirteen years he labored efficiently as a minister at 
Scotland Neck, building up a large congregation there 
and at other places in that region. In addition to his 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


565 


ministerial work he has been a liberal contributor to the 
religions press, for ten years edited the State organ cf 
the church, and has now in preparation a series of papers 
covering the documentary history of the Baptist church. 
The wife of Dr. Hufham, who died in 1890, was the 
daughter of Dr. Thomas I. Faison, a member of the first 
constitutional convention of the State, and distinguished 
for his services in both branches of the legislature. Four 
children are living: Thomas, mayor of Hickory, N. C. ; 
James D., chemist of the agricultural department at 
Raleigh; Annie and Mary. 

Lieutenant George W. Huggins, of Wilmington, a sur¬ 
vivor of the old Wilmington Rifle Guards, was born in 
Onslow county, N. C., in 1840, the son of Luke B. Hug¬ 
gins, a native of the same county, born in 1806, who was 
for many years a merchant at Wilmington and New 
Bern, and served as a private in the home guard during 
the great war. George W. was reared at New Bern and 
Wilmington, and in April, 1861, was mustered into mil¬ 
itary service as a private in the Wilmington Rifle Guards, 
later assigned as Company I to the Eighth (Eighteenth) 
North Carolina regiment, one of the ten original regi¬ 
ments of the State. Private Huggins was promoted first 
corporal in September, 1861, and junior second lieuten¬ 
ant in April, 1862. With his regiment in the army of 
Northern Virginia he took part in the battles of Hanover 
Court House, Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Frayser’s 
Farm and Malvern Hill, and at the close of the bloody 
Seven Days’ struggle before Richmond received a severe 
wound in the foot, at Harrison’s Landing, which dis¬ 
abled him until July, 1863. He then returned to his 
regiment in Virginia, but was detailed for duty in the 
quartermaster’s department at Wilmington, where he 
remained until the city was evacuated, when he made 
his way to Johnston’s army and was paroled with it at 
Greensboro. He has resided at Wilmington since the 
war, and since 1885 has been in business successfully as 
a jeweler. He was married in 1867 to Lizzie, daughter 
of W. H. Allen, of Laurinburg, a Confederate veteran, 
and they have two children, George Allen and Henry 
Allen Huggins. Two brothers of Lieutenant Huggins 
were in the service: James B., who was in the quarter¬ 
master’s and paymaster’s departments, with the rank of 


566 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


captain and now resides in Wilmington, and William T., 
who served six months as lieutenant of Company I, 
Eighth regiment, and subsequently was engaged in the 
manufacture of salt for the army. 

Marshall B. Hughes, a leading citizen and prosperous 
farmer of Camden county, rendered service to the Con¬ 
federate States as a member of the Fourth cavalry, North 
Carolina State troops. Born in Camden county, August 
20, 1845, he enlisted when about eighteen years of age, 
in 1863, as a private in Company G, Capt. Demosthenes 
Bell, Fourth cavalry, Col. D. D. Ferrebee commanding. 
He was identified with the service of this regiment in 
Virginia and North Carolina during the remainder of the 
great struggle, was frequently in engagements with the 
enemy and was twice wounded, but fortunately not seri¬ 
ously. Among the battles in which he participated, the 
most important were those about Petersburg, Va., Ber¬ 
muda Hundred, Burgess’ Mill, and the other encounters 
with Federal cavalry. Private Hughes made an excel¬ 
lent record as a Confederate soldier, and then returning 
to civil life before he was twenty years old, he has since 
then been a man of influence and standing in his com¬ 
munity. He attended school for a year when his mili¬ 
tary service was done, and then engaged in mercantile 
business, to which and to farming he has given his atten¬ 
tion in the past three decades of peace and quiet in the 
Union. In 1886 his worth as a citizen was recognized by 
election to the office of register of deeds, which he held 
two years. In 1894 he was elected county commissioner, 
and being appointed to the same position in 1896, 
became chairman of the board. He was the candidate 
of his party for State representative in the political cam¬ 
paign of 1896. By his marriage, in 1870, to Mary B. Mor- 
risette, of Camden county, he has five children: Edward 
Bertram, Minnie, Jerry J., Vincent M. and Henry Grady. 

Lieutenant William H. Hughes, of Raleigh, N. C., a 
gallant artilleryman of the army of Northern Virginia, 
was born in Norfolk county, Va., in 1835. He was 
reared and educated in his native county, and there 
enlisted in the Confederate service on the day the navy 
yard was burned by the United States officers. He had 
for several months been a private in the old Portsmouth 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY* 


567 


artillery, afterward known to fame as Grimes’ battery, 
and he continued with this command, gaining promotion 
to sergeant, until it was disbanded after the battle of 
Sharpsburg, when he was transferred to Moorman’s artil¬ 
lery. He was at a later date again transferred and pro¬ 
moted, becoming second lieutenant of Hardwick’s battery 
of Moorman’s battalion. In this rank he served until 
the close of the war, at Appomattox being in command 
of Cooper’s battery of Fredericksburg. His service was 
a long and arduous one, embracing most of the great 
battles of the army, among them the Seven Days’ cam¬ 
paign before Richmond, Second Manassas, Warrenton 
Junction, Crampton’s Gap, Sharpsburg, Chancellors- 
ville, the affairs with gunboats on the Rappahannock, 
Brandy Station, where he fired 240 rounds from one gun, 
Hagerstown, and many other of the cavalry fights during 
the year in which he was connected with Stuart’s horse 
artillery. Later battles in which he took part were Mine 
Run, Fairfield, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court 
House, and the battles with Early in the Shenandoah 
valley up to Winchester, where he was wounded, dis¬ 
abling him for six weeks. After fighting on the Peters¬ 
burg lines several months, he was with the army in the 
retreat, was in battle at Farmville and was paroled at 
Appomattox. Though hit several times in battle he was 
never disabled, except at Winchester. Mr. Hughes is 
at present a prosperous merchant at Raleigh, N. C. 

Major Daniel Washington Hurtt, of Goldsboro, N. C., 
was born at New Bern, N. C., in June, 1825. At that 
city, early in 1861, he entered the service of the Confed¬ 
erate States as captain of the Beauregard Rifles, an 
organization which was assigned as Company I, to the 
Second regiment, Col. Charles C. Tew. He served with 
the regiment on the Rappahannock and in North Caro¬ 
lina until the opening of the campaign of 1862 about 
Richmond. During the Seven Days’ campaign he 
served in General Anderson’s brigade, at Mechanics- 
ville, Cold Harbor and Malvern hill, and was next in bat¬ 
tle at vSouth mountain and Sharpsburg, Md. In the 
latter combat he was shot in the face, losing the teeth on 
one side of his upper jaw, and falling into the hands of 
the enemy, was sent to the hospital at Boonsboro. About 
ten days later he was exchanged, and upon his recovery 


568 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


he rejoined his regiment in time to take part in the bat¬ 
tles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. In the 
latter battle he rendered distinguished service in com¬ 
mand of the brigade skirmishers, and was promoted to 
major on the field by General Ramseur. In the first 
day’s fight at Gettysburg he was struck on the lower part 
of the breast by a minie ball, which, after penetrating a 
package of letters and a memorandum book, inflicted 
such injuries that he was incapacitated for further serv¬ 
ice. He reported for duty in May, 1864, but upon exam¬ 
ination was granted a furlough, and in August, 1864, he 
was compelled to resign on account of continued disabil¬ 
ity. He made his home at New Bern in 1865, then 
removed to Tarboro, thence to New Bern in 1877, and 
since 1886 has resided at Goldsboro. By his marriage, 
in 1846, to Maria E., daughter of William Tisdale, a cap¬ 
tain of the war of 1812, he has three children living: 
William T., Stephen F. and Henry T. After the death 
of his first wife, he wedd'ed Kate L. Dewey. A brother 
of Major Hurtt, Edward H., served during the war in 
the adventurous career of a blockade-runner. 

Anderson M. Idol, of High Point, N. C., was born in 
Davidson county, September 19, 1847. At sixteen years 
of age, in the fall of 1863, he began his career as a boy 
soldier of the Confederacy, and made a gallant record in 
some of the most important and fiercely fought battles of 
the war. He enlisted in Company B of the First battal¬ 
ion, North Carolina sharpshooters, which had a distin¬ 
guished part in the history of Early’s division of the 
army of Northern Virginia. With Early, in the Shenan¬ 
doah Valley campaign of 1864, he participated in the bat¬ 
tles of Winchester and Cedar Creek, and other encounters 
with Sheridan’s men, and then ordered back to the 
trenches of Petersburg, took part in the fighting there 
until the evacuation. He was surrendered with the 
army at Appomattox, and then came home and entered 
upon the occupations of civil life. Since 1871 he has 
been a citizen of High Point. 

Lieutenant J. M. Ingle, a prominent citizen of Ashe¬ 
ville, was born in Buncombe county, in 1839. His 
parents were Nathan and Nancy (Alexander) Ingle, 
children of Philip Ingle and James Alexander, pioneer 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


569 


farmers of the county. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Com¬ 
pany F of the Sixth regiment, North Carolina troops, was 
mustered in at Raleigh, and then was ordered to Rich¬ 
mond and on to the Shenandoah valley. He shared the 
gallant service of his regiment at the great victory of 
First Manassas, where Col. C. F. Fisher fell, and subse¬ 
quently after the regiment was renumbered the Sixteenth 
and attached to the brigade of General Pender, Corporal 
Ingle was promoted to orderly-sergeant, and in 1863 to 
first lieutenant. He was with his company to the last, 
and most of the time in command of it. He partici¬ 
pated in the engagement at Seven Pines and the fierce 
Seven Days’ battles of 1862, and received a severe wound 
in the neck at Malvern Hill, which disabled him until the 
battle of Sharpsburg. Afterward he was in all the bat¬ 
tles of the army of Northern Virginia, through the Get¬ 
tysburg campaign and the struggle of 1864, and on April 
2, 1865, was one of the three men who escaped from the 
capture of his regiment when Grant’s army overwhelmed 
the thin line of gallant Confederates who had so long 
held out at Petersburg. Having no command left, he 
shouldered a musket and fought with the army in its last 
campaign which ended at Appomattox Court House. 
He then engaged in farming, and attending school until 
he could become a teacher himself, alternated teaching 
with school study until he had obtained an education. 
After this he was occupied as a mercantile clerk at vari¬ 
ous places, was elected sheriff of Madison county in 1876, 
but failed to receive the office; in 1885 married Laura, 
daughter of R. L. Gudger, and in 1887 made his home at 
Asheville, where he has since resided. For some time 
he served as superintendent of water works for the city. 
Lieutenant Ingle was one of the gallant North Carolina 
soldiers whose record will be a perpetual inspiration to 
patriotic devotion. At Gettysburg he was one of the 
last to leave the field as the army retreated, and at Chan- 
cellorsville he was distinguished for heroic daring. He 
is still a true comrade among the survivors of the Con¬ 
federate army, and was active in the organization of Zeb 
Vance camp at Asheville, and was its first quartermaster. 

Lieutenant John R. Ireland, a prominent citizen of 
Burlington, a veteran of the Thirteenth regiment, North 
Carolina troops, was born in Alamance county, in 1843, 


570 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


son of John Ireland, a native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish 
descent. At the outbreak of war he left the Graham high 
school and enlisted as a private in Company E, Third 
volunteers, known as the Thirteenth, after the reorgan¬ 
ization. His first captain was Thomas Ruffin, Jr., son of 
the chief justice, and his first colonel, William D. Pender. 
During 1861 he was on duty with his command in south¬ 
eastern Virginia, was transferred to York town in the 
spring of 1862, fought in the battles of Williamsburg, 
Seven Pines, and in the Seven Days’ struggle, ending at 
Malvern Hill, where his regiment suffered severely in the 
charge upon the enemy; was in the battles of the Second 
Manassas campaign, and crossing the Potomac was 
engaged at South Mountain, where his brigade com¬ 
mander, General Garland, was killed. At Sharpsburg 
he was taken prisoner while reconnoitering, and carried 
back of the Federal line, but in the following night man¬ 
aged to escape and rejoin his regiment. He was slightly 
wounded at Fredericksburg, and at Chancellorsville was 
distinguished by the capture of Brig.-Gen. Rutherford 
B. Hayes, afterward president of the United States. 
During the fierce onslaught of the Confederates, on May 
3d, Hayes was endeavoring to rally his brigade when 
Ireland, with two comrades, rode down upon him and 
carried him into the Confederate lines. For this exploit 
he was promoted to second lieutenant by President 
Davis, on the recommendation of Congressman McLean. 
Lieutenant Ireland was in each day’s fight at Gettysburg 
with Scales’ brigade, and in the last charge was severely 
wounded in the knee. Under the friendly shade of night 
he crawled to the Confederate lines and was carried back 
to Virginia. After lying for some time in hospital at 
Richmond, he rejoined his regiment in time to partici¬ 
pate in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court 
House and Cold Harbor. Subsequently he served in the 
Petersburg trenches until the assault by Grant’s forces 
following the battle of Five Forks, when he received a 
wound through the lungs. At the evacuation he was put 
in an ambulance and conveyed to his home, and con¬ 
sequently was never surrendered. In the course of 
his gallant career he was five times wounded, at the 
Seven Days’ battles, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and 
Gettysburg. After his recovery he was busied as a 
planter until 1886, when he made his home at Burling- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


571 


ton for the education of his children, and has since been 
engaged in business. By his marriage, in 1872, to Julia 
F. . Ireland, of Frankfort, Ky., he has four children 
living: Etta, John, Sallie and St. Clair. 

Stephen W. Isler, of Goldsboro, an attorney of distinc¬ 
tion and a veteran of Dearing’s cavalry brigade, was born 
in Jones county, N. C., October 18, 1839. He is the son 
of Simmons Isler, a native of the same county, and the 
history of his family, in the old North State, antedates 
the revolution, in which his ancestors took an honorable 
part in the cause of independence. He was graduated 
at Chapel Hill, in 1858, and in the law school of Harvard 
university in 1861. Then, returning to his native State, he 
enlisted in the fall of 1862 as a private trooper in the Six¬ 
teenth North Carolina battalion, which was on duty in 
North Carolina, and toward the latter part of the war 
formed part of the brigade of General Dearing, on whose 
staff he served for several months in the winter of 1864-65 
as assistant adjutant-general. Mr. Isler participated in all 
the cavalry engagements of his battalion about Richmond 
and Petersburg, was one of the participants in the famous 
raid under Hampton, which resulted in the capture of 
Grant’s cattle near City Point, and near the end, being 
sent to Goldsboro on a foraging expedition, was there 
when the army of Northern Virginia was surrendered. 
He embarked in the practice of law at Goldsboro, in 1866, 
and held the office of solicitor for Greene county until 
the office was vacated under the reconstruction laws. 
His career as a lawyer, which has since continued without 
interruption, has been both honorable and highly suc¬ 
cessful. 

Lieutenant John Q. Jackson, of Kinston, prominent in 
the legal profession in Lenoir county and vicinity, is a 
native of that county, born in 1832. Mr. Jackson received 
his first education at Airy Grove academy, and was then 
prepared for college by Rev. Franklin Pewell, of Chapel 
Hill, N. C. He then went to Trinity and graduated in 
1861. From the age of eighteen years he resided in 
Greene county until he enlisted, in the spring of 1862, as 
private in the Sixty-first regiment, North Carolina troops. 
At the organization of this regiment he was elected sec¬ 
ond lieutenant of Company E, and soon afterward was 


572 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


promoted first lieutenant, in which rank, during nearly 
the whole of his service, he was in actual command of 
the company. He was in battle at Williamston, N. C.; 
and near Kinston, in December, 1862, he was captured 
by the enemy, but paroled a day later and exchanged in 
a month. At the siege of Charleston he was among the 
forces on duty, and lay under fire for a long time; and 
then going into Virginia, shared in the closing part of 
the battle of Bermuda Hundred, fought at Gaines’ Mill 
against Grant’s army, and again in the battles before 
Petersburg, where he was shot through the arm, July 30, 
1864. This wound kept him in the hospital two weeks, 
and after his return to the ranks, he served north of the 
James until captured at Fort Harrison, in September, 
1864. After this misfortune he experienced the miseries 
of a prisoner of war at the Old Capitol and Fort Delaware 
until June, 1865. Then returning to North Carolina he 
farmed in Greene county and studied law, gaining admis¬ 
sion to practice in 1868. During one year, 1866-67, he also 
held the office of clerk of the superior court of that 
county. Since 1878 he has been a resident of Kinston 
and a practitioner of law at that city. In 1870 Lieuten¬ 
ant Jackson was married to Mary J., daughter of Henry 
Granger. He had one brother in the Confederate serv¬ 
ice, Henry C. Jackson, who was in the artillery and now 
resides at Wilson. 

Captain Thomas Jordan Jarvis, officer in the Confed¬ 
erate States provisional army and forty-third governor of 
North Carolina, was born in Currituck county, January 
18, 1836, the son of Rev. B. H. Jarvis, a minister of the 
Methodist church. By his own exertions in teaching, 
and the aid of friends, he completed the course of study 
at Randolph-Macon college, Virginia, and was graduated 
in i860, and subsequently was engaged in teaching in 
Pasquotank county until he entered the Confederate 
service in May, 1861. He was first a private of the State 
Guard, an Elizabeth City company, which was assigned 
to the Seventeenth regiment, and served with this com¬ 
mand until July, when he organized a company in Curri¬ 
tuck county, of which he was commissioned first lieuten¬ 
ant. This became Company B of the Eighth regiment, 
and with promotion to captain in 1863, he shared the 
service of that regiment until disabled by wounds. He 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


573 


participated in the engagement at Chicamicomico in 
October, 1861; was captured at Roanoke island, held as 
a prisoner on the transports, then paroled and exchanged 
in September, 1862. Subsequent military events in 
which he shared were the skirmish near New Bern in 
October, 1862; at Goldsboro, December, 1862; the defense 
of Charleston, S. C., throughout 1863, including the bom¬ 
bardments and the sinking of the Federal monitor Keo¬ 
kuk; the bombardment of Fort McAllister, near Savan¬ 
nah; the constant fighting at Charleston from July nth 
to December 6, 1863; the engagements at New Bern, 
Plymouth and Little Washington in 1864, and the skir¬ 
mishes about Petersburg, Va., until May 14th, when he 
was severely wounded, a ball shattering his right arm, 
and causing the removal of six inches of the bone. He 
was in the hospital at Richmond until August, then was 
sent to the country near Petersburg, until, being conva¬ 
lescent, he returned home. After the close of hostilities 
he opened a small store in Tyrrell county as a means of 
livelihood, but in the fall of 1865 began the honorable 
and prominent public career in which he has been distin¬ 
guished, by election to the State constitutional convention 
from Currituck. In the next year he embarked in the 
practice of law. He was elected to the legislature in 1868 
from Tyrrell, and as a candidate for elector on the Dem¬ 
ocratic presidential ticket, made a canvass of a large part 
of the State. He was a steadfast and uncompromising 
defender of the best interests of the commonwealth, and 
in 1870, being re-elected, was chosen as speaker of the 
house. He canvassed the State as an elector on the 
Greeley ticket, in 1872; was a member of the constitu¬ 
tional convention of 1875 from Pitt county, to which he 
removed in 1872 ; was elected lieutenant-governor in 1876, 
and upon the election of Governor Vance to the United 
States Senate, succeeded him in the gubernatorial chair. 
By election to this office, in 1880, he had an administra¬ 
tion of six years, which is memorable for the promotion 
of public enterprises and industrial prosperity. On his 
retirement from the governorship he was appointed min¬ 
ister to Brazil by President Cleveland. After his return 
from that post, at the opening of President Harrison’s 
administration, he engaged in the practice of law at 
Greenville, in which he still continues. Upon the death 
of Senator Vance, Governor Jarvis was appointed his 


574 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


successor and served as United States senator a short 
time. In 1874 Governor Jarvis was married to Mary, 
daughter of John Woodson, of Virginia. 

Newton Anderson Jeffreys, one of the leading business 
men of Greensboro, is a native of Guilford county, born 
May 11, 1841. His Confederate service was rendered in 
the Forty-fifth regiment, North Carolina troops, which 
was a part of the famous brigade of Gen. Junius Daniel. 
He enlisted in Company C of this regiment, May 2, 1862, 
and after serving for some time in North Carolina, went 
into Virginia under Daniel’s command and participated 
in the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, remaining 
in that region until the next winter, when they were 
ordered back to North Carolina to oppose the Federal 
advance on Goldsboro. When General Lee prepared for 
the Pennsylvania campaign, Daniel’s brigade was called 
to the army of Northern Virginia and assigned to Rodes’ 
division of Ewell’s corps, and Private Jeffreys partici¬ 
pated in the fight at Berryville and marched thence to 
Carlisle, returning to Gettysburg and fighting on the first 
day, where he assisted in winning Seminary ridge from 
the enemy, and again on the third day. His next great 
battle was the Wilderness, where he was captured by 
the Federals, ending his career as a soldier. At Point 
Lookout and Elmira, N. Y., he was confined until June 
13, 1865. On his return home he engaged in farming, 
then for a time lived in South Carolina, whence he re¬ 
turned to Greensboro and went into business, in which 
he has had a successful career. 

Colonel James T. Johnson, the last of the commanders 
of the gallant Thirty-fifth regiment, was born in Ca¬ 
tawba county, N. C., in 1836, son of Daniel P. Johnson. 
He was educated at Rutherford college, and in 1861 was 
graduated as a doctor of medicine by the university of 
Pennsylvania. Immediately afterward he entered the 
Confederate service as a member of Company K, Thirty, 
fifth regiment, North Carolina troops, commanded by 
Col. M. W. Ransom. Pie was second lieutenant of his 
company at its organization, was elected captain at the 
organization of the regiment, promoted major for gallant 
conduct at the battle of Fredericksburg, became lieuten¬ 
ant-colonel a year later, and finally was a colonel com- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


575 


manding the Thirty-fifth, in the North Carolina brigade of 
Gen. M. W. Ransom. During 1861 he was on duty in 
eastern North Carolina, participating in the battle of 
New Bern; and then being transferred to Virginia, he 
fought at Seven Pines and throughout the Seven Days’ 
battles. A severe wound received at Malvern Hill dis¬ 
abled him for three months, a period which he passed in 
the hospital at Richmond and at his home. Rejoining 
his regiment, he was in the battle at Fredericksburg, 
and after this his brigade served in North Carolina in 
protection of the line of the Wilmington & Weldon rail¬ 
road, rendering active and arduous service, which was of 
the utmost importance to the army of Northern Virginia. 
In May, 1864, in command of his regiment, he partici¬ 
pated in the defeat of Butler at Drewry’s bluff and Ber¬ 
muda Hundred, and here received a severe wound in 
the leg which disabled him for a considerable time. On 
returning to service he found his command in the 
trenches before Petersburg, where he continued on duty 
until the evacuation. He took part in the famous sortie 
of General Gordon’s corps against Fort Stedman, and 
in the disastrous battle of Five Forks was captured by 
the enemy. Subsequently he was imprisoned at John¬ 
son’s island, Ohio, until June, 1865. Since the close of 
hostilities Colonel Johnson has been engaged in the 
practice of his profession at Hickory, N. C., and is one 
of the prominent citizens of that region. 

Captain Philip Jefferson Johnson, now a merchant at 
Lenoir, was born in Burke county, N. C., in 1840, the 
son of Daniel P. Johnson. In the spring of 1861 he 
enlisted in the first company which left his county, Com¬ 
pany G of the First, or Bethel, regiment of volunteers, 
and during the six months’ service of that command was 
on duty on the Virginia peninsula. His re-enlistment 
was in Company K of the Thirty-fifth regiment. He 
was elected captain of this company, and took part in 
the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, where he 
incurred an attack of typhoid fever which disabled him 
until after the battle of Sharpsburg. Rejoining his 
company he was in the fight at Fredericksburg and sub¬ 
sequently campaigned in North Carolina, taking part 
finally in the memorable capture of Plymouth, under 
General Hoke. Then returning to Virginia he fought 


576 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


at Drewry’s bluff and Bermuda Hundred, and was dis¬ 
tinguished in the battles of June 16th and 17th, before 
Petersburg. On the evening of June 17th his regiment 
was ordered to drive the Federals from the angle in the 
works before Petersburg, which the First Michigan 
sharpshooters, under command of Maj. Levant C. Rhines, 
had taken possession of, after a sanguinary fight of two 
days, in which the Confederates had been gradually 
pushed back. Captain Johnson led the charge, which 
was made with such vigor that the Michigan men were 
able to fire but two volleys before Johnson’s regiment 
was upon them. The fighting was continued with des¬ 
peration along the line of the earthworks, and the bayo¬ 
net was freely used on both sides. Finally Captain 
Johnson jumped over the rifle-pit, followed by his men, 
and though four of the enemy sprang forward to bayonet 
him, he escaped with a wound in the hand, and suc¬ 
ceeded in capturing Adjt. J. E. Buckbee, the only Fed¬ 
eral officer left on the field, with 100 of his men. Buck- 
bee, afterward promoted colonel, gave up his sword to 
Captain Johnson, and going with him to the rear, ex¬ 
pressed a regret that the Confederate command to which 
he had surrendered was not larger in numbers. In 1893 
Captain Johnson was handsomely entertained at Chicago 
by Colonel Buckbee and his wife. During the subse¬ 
quent fighting on the Petersburg lines, including the 
battle of the Crater, the capture of Fort Stedman, and 
the long struggle ended at Five Forks, where he was in 
the heat of battle, Captain Johnson was at the front. 
During the retreat he narrowly escaped capture at Farm- 
ville, Va., and at Appomattox he was paroled. On 
returning home he aided in breaking up a gang of rob¬ 
bers in Caldwell county, and then engaged in teaching 
school for a few months in Indiana. After that he was 
for sixteen years occupied in farming and the manufac¬ 
ture of lumber. For eight years he has been engaged in 
the mercantile business at that place. By his marriage, 
in 1867, to Jennie E. Corpenning, he has three children: 
Florence A., Bascom G., and Philip J. 

Armistead Jones, now a leading attorney of Raleigh, 
N. C., in his youth served faithfully in the cause of the 
Confederate States. He was born at Granville in the 
year 1847, and consequently was not available as a soldier 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 577 

until the war was well on in its course. In May, 1864, 
he entered the service as a private in Mosely’s battalion 
of light artillery, and in this command was on duty within 
the borders of the State until the close of hostilities. He 
was on coast duty all this time, was frequently under fire, 
and took part in the battles of Town Creek, Fort Fisher 
and other engagements. Finally, being included in the 
capitulation of General Johnston and paroled at Greens¬ 
boro, he returned to civil life, and for several years found 
employment and a livelihood as an assistant agent at 
Raleigh for the Raleigh & Gaston railroad. During this 
service he pursued the study of law, and being admitted 
to the bar in 1870, entered upon the professional career 
in which he has won distinction. Two brothers of Mr. 
Jones were also in the service of the Confederacy, William 
W. Jones, a private in the Third cavalry regiment, now 
an attorney at Asheville, N. C., and John H. Jones, of 
Mosely’s battery, who, after serving devotedly through¬ 
out the four years’ war, died from the effects of the ex¬ 
posure and fatigue of his military career. 

Benjamin L. Jones, of Beaufort, now prominent among 
the business men of the city, was born, reared and edu¬ 
cated there, and there enlisted, in early manhood, in the 
military service of the Confederate States. He became 
sergeant of Company D, Sixty-seventh North Carolina 
regiment, commanded by Col. John N. Whitford, and 
was on duty during the remainder of the war, engaged 
in the State defense. Toward the close of the war his 
regiment formed part of a brigade under the command 
of Colonel Whitford, and opposed the advance of the 
enemy from the coast. Among the engagements in 
which Sergeant Jones participated were the splendid vic¬ 
tory of the forces of General Hoke at Plymouth and the 
battles of Kinston and Bentonville, in the spring of 1865. 
At the end he was paroled at Stantonsburg. Then, 
returning to Beaufort, he founded his present business 
in 1871, and has since conducted it with good results. He 
has served the city efficiently as a member of the city 
council and has faithfully discharged the duties of county 
treasurer. In 1868 he was married to Orpha N. Gibbs, 
and they have one son, Hugh C. Jones. One brother of 
the foregoing, John M. Jones, served as a private in the 
command of Colonel Poole and died in 1866. 


578 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Edmund Jones, now a prominent attorney at Lenoir, 
N. C., left his studies at the university of North Carolina 
in 1864, at the age of sixteen years, and enlisted as a pri¬ 
vate in the Third North Carolina cavalry, then a part of 
Barringer’s famous brigade, operating on the flank of 
Lee’s army at Petersburg. His first battle was at 
Ream’s Station, and he took part in the famous cavalry 
raid under General Hampton, in which 2,500 head of 
beef cattle were captured from Grant and brought into 
the Confederate lines without the loss of a man. He was 
in the fight with Warren at Belfield and in the operations 
against Wilson’s raid, at this period being on duty every 
day for forty-two days in succession. He took part in 
all the operations of his brigade until the close of the 
war, never being absent a day from duty, and finally 
was in the desperate encounter with Sheridan at Cham¬ 
berlain’s Run, March 31, 1865, in the battle of Five 
Forks, and during the retreat was engaged at Namozine 
church and in other skirmishes on the road to Appomattox. 
Before the surrender he made his way through the Federal 
lines with thirty or forty of his comrades, and carried to 
President Davis a dispatch from General Lomax, which 
v/as the first official notice received by the head of the 
Confederacy of the surrender of General Lee. Mr. 
Jones then reported to General Beauregard, and was told 
by him to go home and await orders. This gallant boy 
soldier was born in Caldwell county in 1848, son of 
Edmund W. Jones, a planter, who gave four sons to the 
Confederate cause. Of these, William D. Jones was a 
member of the staff of General Leventhorpe; John T. 
Jones was lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-sixth North 
Carolina regiment, and was killed at the battle of the 
Wilderness, May 6, 1864; and Walter T. Jones, of Com¬ 
pany I, Twenty-sixth regiment, was killed at Gettysburg. 
After the close of hostilities, Mr. Jones attended the law 
school of the university of Virginia, and continuing his 
professional studies, was admitted to the practice of law. 
He was a member of the State legislature in 1870-74, 
1878, 1879, 1893-94, and from July, 1885, to 1889, held the 
position of chief of the division of customs of the United 
States treasury department. He is a member of the 
board of trustees of the university of North Carolina. 
In 1872 he was married to Miss Eugenia Lewis, daughter 
of Maj. A. M. Lewis, of the Confederate States service. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


579 


In April, 1898, upon the breaking 1 out of the war with 
Spain, Mr. Jones promptly tendered his services to the 
United States and raised Company C of the Second 
North Carolina volunteer infantry, U. S. A., of which he 
became captain, and continued to command his company 
until his regiment was mustered out of service on 
November 10, 1898. While in the service of the United 
States his company was stationed at St. Augustine, Fla., 
at which point he was in command of Fort Marion, where 
he organized the military prison, in which capacity Fort 
Marion is now used. 

Colonel Hamilton C. Jones, of Charlotte, prominent 
among the lawyers of North Carolina, was born at Salis¬ 
bury, November 3, 1837. His father, Hamilton C. 
Jones, conspicuous as an attorney, member of the legisla¬ 
ture and supreme court reporter, was the son of William 
Jones, a native of Wales, who settled in Suffolk county, 
Va. His mother was Eliza, daughter of Maj. Pleas¬ 
ant Henderson, of Chapel Hill, a revolutionary soldier 
whose brother, Gen. William Henderson, commanded 
Sumter’s brigade at Eutaw Springs. He was educated 
both in letters and the law at the State university, with 
graduation in 1858, and in 1859 began the practice at 
Salisbury. He was defeated, in i860, as the Whig can¬ 
didate for the legislature, and in the campaign of that 
year supported the Bell and Everett ticket. At the 
same time he was first lieutenant of the Rowan Rifle 
Guard, and early in the spring of 1861, went with his 
company to occupy Fort Johnson. When the ordinance 
of secession was enacted, he was commissioned by Gov¬ 
ernor Ellis, captain of Company K of the Fifth North 
Carolina regiment, commanded by Col. Duncan Mac- 
Rae, with which he served on the Virginia peninsula in 
the defense of Yorktown and at the battle of Williams¬ 
burg, where he was seriously wounded. In July, 1862, 
while convalescent from this injury, he was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel of the Fifty-seventh regiment. In this 
rank he was able to join the army of Northern Virginia in 
the fall of 1862, after which he participated in the record 
of Hoke’s brigade at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, 
Gettysburg and Bristoe Station, and was in command of 
his regiment during Colonel Godwin’s service in com¬ 
mand of the brigade. On November 7, 1863, he was 


580 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


captured, together with the greater part of Hoke's and 
Hays’ brigades, in the affair at Rappahannock bridge, 
and was thereafter imprisoned at the Old Capitol prison 
at Washington and at Johnson’s island, Lake Erie, until 
specially exchanged in February, 1865. At once rejoin¬ 
ing his regiment, he was promoted colonel. He com¬ 
manded the Fifty-seventh in the subsequent fighting on 
the Petersburg lines until, in the battle of Hare’s Hill, 
March 25, 1865, during the gallant but fruitless attempt 
to cut the Federal lines, he was again seriously wounded, 
causing his disability during the remaining brief chapter 
of the struggle. He was sent to his home on the last 
train which left Richmond previous to the evacuation. 
After the close of hostilities he resumed the practice of 
law, and in 1867 removed to Charlotte and formed a 
partnership with Gen. Robert D. Johnston, which con¬ 
tinued for twenty years. He has enjoyed an extensive 
practice, and is widely known as a well-equipped and 
successful lawyer. He represented Mecklenburg county 
in the State senate in 1869 and 1871, and during Presi¬ 
dent Cleveland’s first administration, held the office of 
United States district attorney for the western district. 
In 1873 he was married to Connie, daughter of Col. 
W. R. Myers, of Charlotte, and they have six children. 

Captain Kenneth R. Jones, a veteran of the Twenty- 
seventh regiment, North Carolina troops, now in busi¬ 
ness at New Bern, was born in Jones county, N. C., 
in 1842, and was educated at Chapel Hill. In May, 
1861, he left the university and enlisted in the Jones 
county light infantry, which was mustered in as Com¬ 
pany I of the Twenty-seventh regiment. From a pri¬ 
vate he was promoted in a few months to second lieuten¬ 
ant, and at the reorganization he became first lieutenant. 
In 1864 he was promoted captain. Among the engage¬ 
ments in which he participated with an honorable record, 
were those at New Bern, Seven Pines, Gaines’ Mill, Har¬ 
per’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Second Cold 
Harbor. At Sharpsburg he was twice shot in the left 
arm, causing his disability for several months; at Cold 
Harbor he was wounded in the right arm, and at Fray- 
ser’s Farm, in June, 1864, he received a wound in the 
left leg which permanently disabled him. After the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


581 


surrender, which occurred when he was at home wound¬ 
ed, he took up the duties of civil life, and in 1876 estab¬ 
lished his present business at New Bern. His brother, 
Robert H. Jones, now deceased, served throughout the 
war, gaining the rank of second lieutenant of Company 
G, Second North Carolina infantry; was wounded at 
Spottsylvania, and subsequently represented Carteret and 
Jones counties in the State senate. 

M. Henry Jones, of Durham, a veteran of Forrest’s 
cavalry, was born in Chatham county, N. C., in 1845, 
son of A. S. Jones. The latter was a planter of Orange 
county and a son of Henry Jones, a prosperous gentle¬ 
man of the old regime. In i860 Mr. Jones removed with 
his father to Mississippi and there enlisted, in 1862, first 
in an independent company commanded by James Floyd, 
which re-enlisted as a whole as Company H of the 
Eighteenth regiment, Mississippi cavalry. His service 
was typical of that of the troopers who gallantly held 
that region and repeatedly defeated the attempts of the 
Federal armies to penetrate the rich country which was 
known as “Forrest’s territory.” Along the Mississippi 
river he engaged in numerous skirmishes with the Fed¬ 
eral gunboats and transports, and, fighting under Forrest 
at Tupelo and Brice’s Cross-roads, shared the glory of 
the utter rout of the Federal forces at those famous bat¬ 
tles. He was also in the fight at Oxford, participated in 
the raid to Memphis, and was a member of the daring 
expedition which occupied west Tennessee and captured 
Fort Pillow. Subsequently he was on an expedition 
to Biloxi, served on special duty in the Wolf river region, 
carried dispatches to Mobile, and then rejoined his regi¬ 
ment at Citronelle. After the battle of Selma he surren¬ 
dered at Gainesville, Ala. During the years immedi¬ 
ately following the war he was in business at Jacksonville, 
Fla., removed to Raleigh in 1882, and six years later made 
his home at Durham, where he is now engaged in the 
jewelry business. He is a prominent citizen and influ¬ 
ential in public affairs. In 1874, Mr. Jones was married 
to Mary Agnes, daughter of Col. George Center, of 
Florida. She died in 1876, and ten years afterward 
he married Bessie, daughter of John McLaurin, of 
Wilmington. 


582 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Allen Jorden, of Troy, N. C., was born in Mont¬ 
gomery county in 1829, the son of John and Sarah 
(Butler) Jorden. On the parental branch he is descended 
from Welsh ancestry. In youth he was educated in the 
schools of his native county, then engaged in teaching 
school, after which he entered upon the study of law, 
and gaining admission to the bar, began the practice of 
his profession in 1857. This vocation he promptly aban¬ 
doned, however, upon the call of his State, and en¬ 
listed as a private in a volunteer organization, which was 
assigned as Company F to the Forty-fourth regiment, 
North Carolina State troops, Pettigrew’s brigade. He 
was elected to a lieutenancy in Company F, but through 
a misunderstanding did not receive his commission. 
Subsequently he was appointed sergeant and was trans¬ 
ferred to Company H. He was identified with the serv¬ 
ice of his regiment until the fall of 1862, when, having 
been elected county attorney of Montgomery county, he 
was honorably discharged that he might assume the 
duties of that office. Since then he has devoted himself 
to the practice of his profession, in which he has attained a 
gratifying eminence, and to the discharge of those public 
duties to which he has frequently been called. He was 
elected to the legislature in 1864, 1867, 1872, 1878 and 
1887. He was also chosen as a delegate to the constitu¬ 
tional convention which was to have convened in 1871, 
and being re-elected in 1875, held a seat in that body. 
He has merited honorable mention by his sympathy and 
efforts for the survivors of the Confederate army and 
his part in the restoration of good government. By his 
marriage, in 1857, to May Horton, of Chatham, he has 
one child, Mary O. 

Benjamin Franklin Jordan, a business man of High 
Point, N. C., was born in Guilford county, June 19, 
1842. With his brother, A. G. Jordan, he enlisted 
in one of the early organizations of patriotic North Caro¬ 
linians for service in the Confederate cause, joining a 
cavalry company from Davie county, but did not go to 
the front with that command, and in August, 1862, en¬ 
listed as a private in the artillery company of Capt. W. B. 
Lewis, Tenth battalion, heavy artillery. With this com¬ 
mand he was on duty in the vicinity of Wilmington, man¬ 
ning the defenses of that city, until Sherman began his 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


583 


march through Georgia, when his battery was sent to 
oppose that movement. At Savannah he served under 
Maj. W. B. Young and took part in several small battles 
during the campaign. After the evacuation of Savan¬ 
nah he was captured by the enemy, and subsequently 
was confined as a prisoner of war at Port Royal until 
after the close of hostilities. On June 25, 1865, he re¬ 
turned to High Point, and after residing for a short time 
in Indiana, he returned and embarked in business. He 
has served as alderman of his city many terms, and is one 
of the influential men of the community. 

Lieutenant Henry C. Kearney, an officer of the Fif¬ 
teenth regiment, North Carolina troops, during the Con¬ 
federate war, and since then for twenty years sheriff of 
Franklin county, was born in that county, August 31, 
1842. On May 16, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate 
service as second lieutenant of Company E, Fifteenth 
regiment, Col. Robert M. McKinney, and in May, 1862, 
he was promoted to first lieutenant. In these capacities 
he served during the war, also acting for a time as adju¬ 
tant of the regiment. Among the battles in which he 
participated were Dam No. 1, at Yorktown, Malvern 
Hill, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, on the South 
Anna near Hanover Junction, Bristoe Station, the Wil¬ 
derness, Spottsylvania Court House, Hanover Junction, 
Turkey Ridge, White Oak Swamp, Reams’ Station, Bel- 
field, the siege of Petersburg, Sutherland Station, and 
the last campaign, ending at Appomattox, where he was 
paroled. He was wounded slightly at Malvern Hill, at 
South Mountain, where his regiment was part of the 
gallant band that held back McClellan’s army, again on 
Marye’s hill at Fredericksburg, and more seriously at 
White Oak swamp, the latter wound disabling him for 
several weeks. In addition to these evidences of sol¬ 
dierly conduct, his clothing was pierced in seventeen 
places by Federal bullets during his service with the gal¬ 
lant Fifteenth, all in one day, September 14, 1862. At 
South Mountain he was captured by the enemy, and for 
about a month after that was imprisoned at Fort Dela¬ 
ware. Then, being paroled, he was exchanged a month 
later and permitted to return to the field. On returning 
home after the close of hostilities he was occupied for 
four years in the manufacture of tobacco, and after that 


584 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in farming, until, in 1878, he was elected sheriff of his 
county. In this office his services have been so satisfac¬ 
tory that he has ever since been retained by biennial elec¬ 
tion. In July, 1866, Lieutenant Kearney was married to 
Mary J. Long, of Franklin county, and they have six 
children living. He is a member of the camp of Con¬ 
federate veterans at Louisburg. 

Colonel Thomas S. Kenan, of Raleigh, N. C., was born 
February 12, 1838, near Kenansville, of ancestry distin¬ 
guished in the service of the State. His father, Hon. 
Owen R. Kenan, represented Duplin county in the legis¬ 
lature and was a member of the first congress of the 
Confederate States. His grandfather, Hon. Thomas S. 
Kenan, also sat in the legislature several times for Du¬ 
plin county, and from 1805 to 1811 was in the State’s 
delegation to the United States Congress. The great¬ 
grandfather, James Kenan, a leader in the revolutionary 
epoch, colonel and afterward brigadier-general, was a 
delegate from Duplin to the colonial conventions in 1774, 
1775 and 1776, and State senator from 1777 to 1791. 
After an academic preparation, Colonel Kenan entered 
the university at Chapel Hill and was graduated in 1857. 
He then applied himself to the study of law under the 
direction of Judge Pearson, and two years later began 
the practice of his profession at Kenansville. This 
career was, however, soon interrupted by the events of 
1861. Heartily in sympathy with the impulses which 
brought about the union of his State with the Confeder¬ 
acy, he entered the military service of North Carolina in 
April, 1861, as captain of the Duplin Rifles, an organiza¬ 
tion which had been formed in his native county in 1859. 
The company was assigned to the First regiment under 
Col. D. H. Hill, and later to the Second regiment 
under Col. Sol Williams. As Company C, of this com¬ 
mand, the Rifles served at and near Norfolk through the 
summer of 1861, returning home at the end of the period 
of enlistment. The company was then reorganized and 
became Company A of the Forty-third regiment, of which 
Kenan was elected lieutenant-colonel, at the organiza¬ 
tion in March, and promoted colonel, April 24, 1862. In 
command of his regiment Colonel Kenan served a short 
time at Wilmington and Fort Johnson, on the Cape Fear 
river, and then was assigned to Daniel’s brigade and par- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


585 


ticipated in the operations before Richmond, serving at 
Drewry’s bluff and in a demonstration against Suffolk 
during the Maryland campaign of 1862. During the 
following winter and the spring of 1863, his service was 
rendered in eastern North Carolina and he led the regi¬ 
ment in several encounters with the enemy, until Gen¬ 
eral Lee began his preparations for the Pennsylvania 
campaign. Colonel Kenan’s regiment was then called 
to Fredericksburg, Va., and assigned to Rodes’ division 
of the Second corps under General Ewell. He acted with 
the cavalry supports at Brandy Station and Berryville, 
and marched into Pennsylvania as far as Carlisle. 
Reaching the field of Gettysburg at 1 p. m., of the first 
day, he led his regiment in the hard fighting of July 1st, 
before Seminary ridge; during the second day the regi¬ 
ment lay under fire in support of a battery, and march¬ 
ing to the left in the following night, participated in the 
desperate fight at Culp’s hill on July 3d. Here, in lead¬ 
ing a charge, Colonel Kenan fell severely wounded. On 
the next day he was captured with other wounded men 
in the ambulance train, and subsequently was held as a 
prisoner of war at Johnson’s island until March, 1865, 
and then placed on parole, but was never exchanged. 
He reached home after the surrender of the armies. 
After the close of hostilities he was at once accorded a 
prominent part in the work of restoring civil government 
in the commonwealth. He was a member of the legis¬ 
lature in the sessions of 1865-66 and 1866-67, and hi 1868 
made a hopeless but gallant contest for Congress in the 
Cape Fear district. He was a delegate to the national 
Democratic convention of 1872, and in the same year 
began a service of four years as mayor of Wilson, where 
he had made his home in 1869. From this office he was 
called by the people of the State to that of attorney-gen¬ 
eral of North Carolina, which he held, with many evi¬ 
dences of public esteem, during a period of eight years. 
Not long after the expiration of his second term he was 
appointed to the office of clerk of the Supreme court. 

Captain William Rand Kenan, of Wilmington, a gallant 
veteran of the Forty-third regiment, was born at Kenans- 
ville, N. C., August 4, 1845. He was educated at the 
Grove academy and the university of North Carolina, 
leaving the university in November, 1863, to enlist as a 


586 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. * 


private in the Forty-third regiment. He was at once 
detailed as sergeant-major. In May and June, 1864, he 
was acting adjutant of his regiment, and after that on 
account of his gallantry at the battle of Bethesda Church, 
was ordered by General Grimes to take command of the 
sharpshooters from his regiment, with the rank of acting 
lieutenant. While serving in this capacity he was shot 
through the body in the fight at Charlestown, in the 
Shenandoah valley, August 22, 1864, which compelled 
his remaining at home sixty days. On recovery he was 
assigned to the command of Company E, Forty-third 
regiment, by Colonel Winston, who sent in an application 
for his promotion to second lieutenant on account of dis¬ 
tinguished gallantry, which bore the warm endorsement 
of General Grimes, and was approved by General Early. 
After three weeks’ service in command of Company E, 
he was appointed adjutant of the regiment, the rank 
which he held to the close of hostilities. Among the 
battles and skirmishes in which he was engaged were the 
following: Plymouth, N. C., Drewry’s Bluff, Bethesda 
Church, Gaines’ Mill, Cold Harbor, Harper’s Ferry, 
Monocacy, Md., Washington, D. C., Snicker’s Ford, 
Kernstown, Winchester, Hare’s Hill, Petersburg, Sail¬ 
or’s Creek, Farmville and Appomattox Court House. 
After his return to North Carolina he resumed his studies, 
applying himself specially to the law, and in November, 
1865, he removed to Wilmington, where he began a 
business career in which he has met with success and 
prosperity. From 1881 to 1885, and from 1889 to 1894, 
he was a member of the board of audit and finance in 
the city government, and from 1894 to 1898 held the 
office of collector of the port of Wilmington. He served 
efficiently as captain of the Wilmington light infantry 
from August, 1889, to January 1, 1892. By his marriage 
in March, 1864, to Mary, daughter of Jesse Hargrave, of 
Chapel Hill, Captain Kenan has four children: Mary 
Lily, Jessie H., wife of J. Clisby Wise, of Macon, Ga.; 
William R. Jr., superintendent of the Lake Superior 
carbide works, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and Sarah Gra¬ 
ham Kenan. 

Charles Humphrey King, of Wilmington, a veteran of 
the Confederate war, was born at Rochester, N. Y., in 
1837, and was reared and educated in that State. In 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


587 


i860 he made his home at Wilmington, and in the fol¬ 
lowing year went into service with the Wilmington 
Rifle Guards, in April, serving in the occupation of Fort 
Caswell. The company was assigned to the Eighteenth 
regiment, North Carolina infantry, and he continued 
with it, earning promotion to corporal and fourth sergeant, 
until June, 1862, when the period of enlistment expired. 
He then became a private trooper in the Scotland Neck 
Rifles, and eight or ten months later was transferred to 
the Sixty-first regiment, North Carolina infantry, as 
quartermaster-sergeant. He was on duty with this 
command until the surrender of Johnston’s army. At 
the close of the war, having no resources, he went to 
New York city, reaching there July 4, 1865, with nothing 
but the old uniform on his back. A year later he 
returned to Wilmington, where he has since been in 
business. 

George L. Kirby, M. D., surgeon of the Second regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina State troops, and since 1894 
superintendent of the Central hospital for the insane, at 
Raleigh, was born near Clinton, July 11, 1834, the son 
of William and Elizabeth (Cromartie) Kirby. His 
grandfather, William Kirby, moved to North Carolina 
from his native county of Southampton, Va., and was 
possessed of a large estate in the ante-bellum days. Dr. 
Kirby was graduated in medicine at the Long Island 
hospital college, Brooklyn, N. Y., in i860, and after 
continuing his studies one year in Paris, France, returned 
in January, 1861, reaching New York on the day the 
Star of the West was fired on in Charleston harbor. 
Proceeding to his home, he was the second man of his 
county to enlist for the defense of the State, in April, 
1861, becoming a member of Captain Marsh’s company, 
known as the Sampson Rangers. When the company 
was assigned to the Twentieth regiment of infantry he 
was appointed assistant surgeon, and subsequently, upon 
the resignation of Dr. J. B. Hughes, was promoted sur¬ 
geon. He served in this capacity until December, 1864. 
He was on duty with his regiment in the battles of 
Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern 
Hill, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville, on the Rapidan, the Wilderness, Spott- 
sylvania Court House, Second Cold Harbor, Winchester 


588 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and Cedar Creek, and subsequently at Petersburg until, 
at the close of 1864, he was transferred to hospital duty 
with orders to establish a hospital at Wytheville, where 
he remained in charge until July, 1865. At the battle of 
Kelly’s Ford he was captured by the Federals and there¬ 
after confined for two months at Fort McHenry. In 
August, 1865, he made his home at Goldsboro and entered 
upon a professional career, which has been replete with 
success and honor. In 1894 he was called upon to take 
charge of the hospital for the insane at Raleigh, a position 
which he has shown himself thoroughly competent to fill. 
He has served six years as a member of the State medical 
examining board and twelve years as coroner of Wayne 
county. In 1866 he was married to Mary C., daughter 
of John A. Greene, a descendant of General Nathaniel 
Greene, and has eight children. William Kirby, a brother 
of the foregoing, served one year as lieutenant in the 
Twentieth regiment, and during the remainder of the 
Confederate era, as a member of the State legislature. 
He died in 1897. 

Lieutenant William Emmett Kyle, of Fayetteville, 
N. C., is a native of Virginia, born in Christiansburg, 
Montgomery county, the son of William E. Kyle, of that 
county, whose father was a native of Ireland and emi¬ 
grated to Virginia. On the maternal side, Mr. Kyle is 
of Welsh descent, his mother, Sarah M. Shanklin, being 
the daughter of a native of that part of the British 
islands. Lieutenant Kyle was educated at Christians¬ 
burg, and then started in life as a farmer, but in i860 
embarked in the retail dry goods business at Fayetteville, 
N. C. There he enlisted among the earliest volunteers 
in the famous First regiment of volunteers, under Col. 
D. H. Hill, and shared the service of that command at 
Big Bethel. After the disbandment of that regiment, 
he entered the Fifty-second regiment of State troops, and 
was commissioned lieutenant of Company B. With this 
regiment, in Pettigrew’s brigade, he participated in the 
command of the army of Northern Virginia, and fought 
at Franklin, Hanover Junction, Gettysburg, Pa., Hagers¬ 
town, Md., Falling Waters, Bristoe Station, Culpeper, 
Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, 
Hanover Junction, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Drewry’s 
bluff, Hatcher’s run, Southerland’s station, Reams’ sta- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


589 


tion, Amelia Court House, Farmville and surrendered at 
Appomattox, April 9, 1865. In the battle of Reams’ 
Station, August 25, 1864, the North Carolina brigades of 
Cook, Lane and McRae were greatly distinguished in a 
charge which resulted in the capture of fourteen cannon 
and 5,000 prisoners. Lieutenant Kyle bore a prominent 
part in the splendid record made by the troops in the 
capture of Col. Francis A. Walker, of the Federal army, 
adjutant-general to General Hancock. Kyle was wounded 
three times, at Gettysburg, Spottsylvania Court House 
and Petersburg, in the head, hip and leg. He was taken 
prisoner at Petersburg, but managed to escape a few 
hours later. At the time of the surrender at Appomattox 
he was in command of the sharpshooters of McRae’s bri¬ 
gade. From Appomattox he walked to his home in Vir¬ 
ginia, and soon afterward resumed his occupation as a 
merchant. He has been prominent as a citizen of Fay¬ 
etteville, serving eleven years as alderman and four terms 
as mayor of the city. In December, 1867, he was mar¬ 
ried to Miss Frances A. Dewes, of Hampton, Va., and 
they have six children: Edwin D., James, Laura M., 
Annie M., Frances D. and Mary B. 

Lieutenant Wilson G. Lamb, of Williamston, N. C., a 
veteran of the Seventeenth regiment, North Carolina 
troops, was born at Elizabeth City, N. C., in 1842, son 
of Wilson G. Lamb, who served for a time during the 
war as commissary at Hatteras, and great-grandson of 
Col. Gideon Lamb, who commanded the Sixth North 
Carolina continental troops at Germantown, Brandywine 
and Monmouth. At the age of sixteen years he was 
appointed to the United States naval academy at An¬ 
napolis, but soon afterward returned home, and when 
the Seventeenth regiment was organized, in which his 
brother, John C. Lamb, was lieutenant-colonel, he enlisted 
and was made sergeant-major. In 1862 he was elected 
second lieutenant of Company F, and in 1863, adjutant 
of the regiment. In July, 1864, he was appointed provost- 
marshal of Hoke’s division, but in December, resuming 
his duties as adjutant, continued in that position until 
the close of the war. He took part in the fight at New¬ 
port barracks, N. C., in 1863; Bermuda Hundred, May 
20, 1864; Second Cold Harbor, the Petersburg battles of 
June 14th to 18th, being wounded on the 18th and disabled 


590 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


for a month; Henrico almshouse and Darbytown road, near 
Richmond; was several months on duty in the Peters¬ 
burg trenches; commanded the skirmish line of Hoke’s 
division in the first battle of Fort Fisher, and was present 
at the second battle; was complimented for great gal¬ 
lantry and coolness in command of the rear guard at 
Northeast river bridge; at Kinston was again compli¬ 
mented for gallantry by Captain Elliott, and finally took 
part in the battle of Bentonville. Since the war he has 
taken an active interest in public affairs, has served 
twenty-five years as a member of the State executive 
committee for the Democratic party, and was a delegate 
to the national conventions of 1884 and 1892. He is 
president of the order of Cincinnati, of North Carolina. 
Lieut.-Col. John C. Lamb, brother of the foregoing, was 
born in 1834, and entered the Confederate service in May, 
1861, as captain of Company A, Seventeenth regiment. 
He was in command of Fort Clark, at Hatteras inlet, 
and was captured there in July, 1861, and subsequently 
held as a prisoner at Fort Warren for several months. 
On his return his regiment was reorganized and he was 
elected lieutenant-colonel. He commanded the regiment 
at the battle of Newport Barracks, commanded the ex¬ 
pedition which captured Plymouth and burned the town 
in 1863, and continued in conspicuous service until in the 
battle of May 20, 1864, before Bermuda Hundred, where 
he fell, mortally wounded, as he sprang on the enemy’s 
earthworks, cheering on his men, who achieved a splen¬ 
did victory. 

Colonel John R. Lane, of the famous Twenty-sixth 
regiment, was born in Chatham county, N. C., July 4, 
1835. His parents were possessed of limited means and 
he was reared with the advantages of self-denial and 
manly independence. Early in May, 1861, he volunteered 
in a company, raised in his county, known as the Chatham 
Boys, afterward Company G, Twenty-sixth regiment, 
State troops. He was soon made a corporal, and at the 
first occurrence of a vacancy, was elected captain. He 
was popular with his comrades from the first, and was 
noted for his unbounded patience, forbearance, kindness, 
sagacity and presence of mind. In August, 1862, after 
undergoing a rigid examination, he was promoted to lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel. At Gettysburg, where the Twenty-sixth 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


591 


suffered the greatest loss of any regiment, either Union or 
Confederate, during the four years’ war, he was pre¬ 
eminently distinguished for gallantry. This loss was 
mainly sustained in winning Seminary ridge on the first 
day of the fight. The men fell rapidly under the fire of 
the enemy. Colonel Burgwyn picked up the colors from 
the fallen bearer and turned them over to Private 
Frank Hunnicutt, who was shot dead after he had ad¬ 
vanced but a few steps, Colonel Burgwyn falling about 
the same time. Lane assumed command and took the 
colors from the hands of Lieutenant Blair, who had picked 
them up. Going quickly to the front he called out, 
“Twenty-sixth, follow me,” and as he looked around at 
his brave men, fell, as they thought, dead. The ball 
passed through the back of his head and out at his mouth. 
But, as his men rallied under the terrible fire, and the 
remnant pushed on and carried the hill, so he fought 
against death and won the victory. On his return to the 
regiment six months later, he recruited his command by 
May, 1864, to 750 men, and it was then pronounced by 
General Heth the best drilled regiment in his division. 
At the battle of the Wilderness it was in position near 
the center of Lee’s line, and had the honor of opening 
the battle and the misfortune of losing many brave men. 
Near Spottsylvania Court House, General Lee, having 
called for the most reliable regiment in the division to 
guard a wagon train, the Twenty-sixth was assigned to 
that duty, General Lee remarking to Colonel Lane, 
“This is the greatest compliment I can bestow upon you 
and your regiment. ’ ’ At the surrender, Colonel Lane 
was in hospital at Danville, from the effects of another 
severe wound received at Reams’ Station. He was 
wounded in all five times. As a regimental commander 
he was the worthy successor of Zebulon B. Vance and 
Harry K. Burgwyn, and a painting, showing the three 
heroes, is one of the valued artistic and patriotic treasures 
of the State. Since the war, Colonel Lane has been 
engaged in business in his native county. 

Colonel William C. Lankford, a native of North Caro¬ 
lina, distinguished as an officer of the Forty-seventh regi¬ 
ment, and now prominent in the medical profession at 
Wake Forest, was born in Franklin county in 1833. He 
was educated at Louisburg, N. C., at the university of 


592 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Virginia and the university of New York, being gradu¬ 
ated in academic studies and in the profession of medi¬ 
cine. Embarking upon his professional work before the 
war, he was engaged in the practice at Franklin ton when 
the State seceded and he felt the thrill of patriotic devo¬ 
tion which inspired the soldiery of 1861. Organizing a 
company of men, he enlisted in the spring of 1862 and 
was commissioned captain of Company F, Forty-seventh 
regiment, State troops. This was assigned to the brigade 
of General Pettigrew, and under the leadership of that 
gallant commander, and successively of Kirkland, MacRae 
and Martin, did effective service in many campaigns. 
The gallantry of Captain Lankford’s service led to his 
promotion, in the spring of 1864, to major, and a few 
months later to lieutenant-colonel, and finally, soon be¬ 
fore the close of the war, to his recommendation for 
promotion to colonel. Among the battles in which he 
participated were those of Falling Waters, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, the siege of 
Petersburg, Kinston and Goldsboro. After the close of 
hostilities, Colonel Lankford returned to Franklin county 
and resumed the practice of medicine, also giving his 
attention to farming, and after some years he removed to 
Wake Forest, where he has been a resident for sixteen 
years. Officially he has had the honor of serving as a 
commissioner of Franklin county, and as postmaster of 
Wake Forest during the second administration of Presi¬ 
dent Cleveland. In 1865 he was married to Ella Brenan, 
of Suffolk, Va., and they have three daughters. 

Basil Manly Lanneau, a native of Charleston, S. C., 
born February 15, 1845, has the distinction of being the 
youngest of the fifteen hundred men enlisted in Hamp¬ 
ton’s legion in 1861. At the beginning of hostilities he 
was a student at Furman university, Greenville, S. C., 
but he promptly left his studies to take up arms and was 
enrolled in the legion as a private June 8, 1861, being 
then sixteen years of age. His brother, John F. Lan¬ 
neau, was captain of Company B of cavalry, the com¬ 
pany which he joined. During the winter of 1861-62 Pri¬ 
vate Lanneau was attached to the staff of Maj.-Gen. 
William H. C. Whiting, who had an important command, 
and he served with that officer until after the battle of 
Seven Pines, before Richmond. After a few months 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


593 


spent with his original command, he was detailed by the 
war department as cadet engineer, and upon the staff 
of his brother, Capt. John F. Lanneau, of the engineer 
corps, he was engaged for some time in the construction 
of the fortifications about Richmond. His brother then 
being ordered to Mobile, Private Lanneau rejoined his 
cavalry company, and under the gallant Wade Hampton, 
rode with the cavalry during the remainder of the four 
years’ struggle. Among the many cavalry encounters in 
which he shared the hard fighting of his command, were 
those about Yorktown, at Fredericksburg, Thoroughfare 
gap, Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ battles around Rich¬ 
mond, Jack’s shop, United States Ford, Warrenton 
Springs, Upperville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Wil¬ 
liamsport, Spottsylvania, and in North Carolina the 
engagements at Little Washington, New River (after 
the fall of Fort Fisher), and Goldsboro. His career since 
the war has been of a character to give him a wide 
acquaintance throughout the South. In 1867 he made his 
home in Georgia as special agent of an insurance com¬ 
pany, and while there, in 1868, was married to Mary E., 
youngest daughter of Dr. George L. Bird, of Crawfords- 
ville, that State, a lady who is a cousin of Hon. Alexander 
H. Stephens. Settling at Crawfordsville he was engaged 
in mercantile business until 1874, when he removed to 
New York and became associated with a cotton commis¬ 
sion house. In August, 1878, he received from Post¬ 
master-General D. M. Key the appointment of chief clerk 
of the railway postal service, an office he held until 1883. 
Subsequently he has served seven years as special agent 
of the Mutual life insurance company of New York in 
Missouri, and as general traveling special agent of the 
Union Central life insurance company for the States of 
North Carolina and Virginia. In the latter, his present 
occupation, he makes his home at Raleigh, N. C. Mr. 
Lanneau is a member of the Confederate Veteran associ¬ 
ation at Savannah, and in 1896-97 served on the staff of 
Gen. Wade Hampton. 

Captain John Francis Lanneau, professor of physics 
and applied mathematics at Wake Forest college, North 
Carolina, and widely known in the South as a scientist 
and educator, is a worthy type of those scholarly men 
who left the schools and colleges of the South in 1861 to 


594 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


serve, as their attainments best fitted them, with her 
armies of defense. He was born at Charleston, S. C., 
in 1836, was graduated at the South Carolina military 
academy in 1856, and at the outbreak of war was pro¬ 
fessor of natural philosophy and chemistry at Furman 
university. In the spring of 1861 he entered the Confed¬ 
erate service as captain of Company B of cavalry, in 
Hampton’s legion, and served in that capacity until the 
reorganization, in 1862, when he was commissioned first 
lieutenant of engineers. As an officer of engineers he 
served under Generals W. H. C. Whiting, Longstreet, 
Pickett, Wise, Anderson, Maury and Robert E. Lee, and, 
during the last campaign of Lieut.-Gen. Wade Hampton, 
held the position of chief engineer of his cavalry corps. 
In the fall of 1864 he was commissioned captain of 
engineers, being the thirty-fourth to receive that grade. 
His military record embraces service with the legion in 
the engagements at Free Stone Point, at Williamsburg 
(where he led the cavalry charge), and the Seven Days’ 
battles before Richmond. Immediately afterward he 
was assigned to engineering duties on the line of works 
from Drewry’s bluff to Petersburg. In 1863 he was 
engaged in constructing a line of fortifications, some eight 
miles long, connecting Chapin’s bluff and Richmond; 
subsequently was occupied in strengthening the defenses 
of Mobile, Ala., then was on duty before Richmond when 
the city was threatened by General Dix, and finally aided 
in preparing for the defense of Columbia, S. C., against 
Sherman. He was a participant in the battles of Reams’ 
Station and Hatcher’s Run, in addition to the services 
named, and as chief engineer was prominently connected 
with General Hampton’s famous cattle raid in the rear of 
Grant’s army. At the close of the war he resumed his 
career as a teacher. Previous to accepting his position 
at Wake Forest college in 1890, he had served as professor 
of mathematics and astronomy in Furman university 
until 1868; as professor of mathematics in William Jewell 
college, Missouri, until 1873; as president of the college 
at Tuscaloosa, Ala., until 1879; as president of the 
Baptist female college at Lexington, Mo., until 1888, 
and as president of Pierce City Baptist college, Missouri, 
until 1890. Professor Lanneau was married, in 1869, to 
Louise Skinner Cox, of Greenville, S. C., and has six 
children living. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


595 


James H. Lassiter, a prominent business man and patri¬ 
otic citizen of Henderson, N. C., was born in Gates 
county, May 27, 1816, a son of Blake Lassiter. In 1842 
Mr. Lassiter first embarked in business as a merchant in 
Murfreesboro, N. C. During the war his age prevented 
him from rendering active service in the field, but he was 
thoroughly devoted to the cause, and is yet loyal to the 
memory of the brave boys who served in the North Caro¬ 
lina regiments. He rendered duty when called upon as 
a member of the Senior reserves, and in the commissary 
department did efficient service in gathering and furnish¬ 
ing supplies to the army. Not all of a people are priv¬ 
ileged by nature to brave the dangers of war and enjoy 
its glory, but true loyalty may be as strongly manifested 
by those who remain at home and perform those duties 
essential to the maintenance of the military force. 
Among these latter Mr. Lassiter is worthy of remem¬ 
brance. Since 1865 he has been very successfully 
engaged in business at Henderson, is a director of the 
Citizens bank, and of the storage warehouse and cotton 
mill, and in various channels of activity is an enterpris¬ 
ing and valuable citizen. 

Lieutenant Thomas D. Lattimore, of Shelby, a veteran 
of Jackson’s corps of the army of Northern Virginia, is 
one of seven brothers who served in the ranks of the 
Confederacy. The father of this family of heroes was 
John Lattimore, a native of Cleveland county, and grand¬ 
son of John Lattimore, of Virginia, who carried to his 
grave a bullet received while fighting in the patriot ranks 
during the revolution. The brothers in the Confederate 
army were Daniel Lattimore, lieutenant of Company B, 
Forty-ninth regiment, killed at the battle of the Crater; 
John L. Lattimore, Company B, Forty-ninth regiment; 
James H. Lattimore, Company F, Thirty-fourth regi¬ 
ment, who was twice wounded; Frank Lattimore, Com¬ 
pany F, Forty-ninth regiment; Joseph C. Lattimore, of 
Terry’s Texas rangers and Audley M. Lattimore of Gra¬ 
ham’s artillery. Joseph, John and Frank were each at 
one time prisoners of war. Thomas D. Lattimore was 
born in Cleveland county, in 1843, and enlisted as a pri¬ 
vate, in 1861, in Company F, Thirty-fourth regiment, 
North Carolina troops. After service in the eastern part 
of the State, he accompanied his regiment to Fredericks- 

Nc 81 


596 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


burg, Va., and thence to Richmond. His brigade, com¬ 
manded by General Pender, opened the fight at Meehan- 
icsville and was hotly engaged at Gaines’ Mill; took part 
in the battle of Frayser’s Farm, and was under fire at 
Malvern hill. After this campaign Private Lattimore 
was promoted to a lieutenancy. He fought under Jack- 
son at Cedar run, Second Manassas and Chantilly. In 
the latter engagement Colonel Riddick and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Miller, of the Thirty-fourth, were both mortally 
wounded. He took part in the capture of Harper’s Ferry 
and the battles of Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg, and 
his last battle, under Jackson, was at Chancellorsville, 
when he saw the flash of the guns that gave the mortal 
wound to that famous commander. At Gettysburg he 
was one of the few who escaped unhurt from the sanguin¬ 
ary battle of the first day and the desperate charge of the 
North Carolinians on Cemetery hill. During the retreat 
from Pennsylvania he was in the engagements of Hagers¬ 
town and Falling Waters and was one of the last to cross 
the pontoon bridge. During the long struggle with the 
army under Grant, he fought at the Wilderness, Spottsyl- 
vania Court House, Hanover Junction, Hatcher’s run, 
Reams’ Station, in the trenches at Petersburg and, after 
the lines were broken, at Southerland Station and Farm- 
ville, his military career finally being ended by parole at 
Appomattox. After the close of hostilities he was mainly 
engaged in merchandise and manufacturing until 1874, 
when he was elected clerk of the superior court, an office 
which he had the honor of holding for a period of twenty- 
three years. He is now secretary, treasurer and general 
manager of the Buffalo manufacturing company. By his 
marriage, in 1871, to Matilda Beam, he has six children 
living: Hattie, wife of W. B. Nicks; E. B. Lattimore, 
M. D.; J. J., Thomas W., S. N. and Pearl. 

Captain William Henry Harrison Lawhon, of Moore 
county, of the Forty-eighth regiment, was born May 16, 
1841, son of L. W. Lawhon. In youth he determined to 
enter the ministry of the Baptist church, and at the age 
of eighteen began his studies, preparatory to that sacred 
service, at Hughes’ academy, Orange county. His 
spirited devotion to his State, however, won him from his 
studies to the field, and he volunteered in the company 
organized in Moore county, February 25, 1862, by Capt. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


597 


B. R. Husk. He was elected to a lieutenancy of this 
company when it was assigned to the Forty-eighth regi¬ 
ment, Col. Robert C. Hill. Soon afterward he was pro¬ 
moted to the rank of captain, which he held during the 
remainder of the war. Ordered to Virginia and assigned 
to Robert Ransom’s brigade, he was with the Forty- 
eighth in its first battle, June 25th, at French’s farm, 
opening the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond. In 
the Maryland campaign the regiment took part in the 
capture of Harper’s Ferry, and fought with great gallantry 
at the Dunker church, at Sharpsburg, losing half its 
numbers. Then being assigned to Cooke’s brigade, it 
was in the hottest of the fight at Fredericksburg, and 
again suffered heavy loss. From Fredericksburg it was 
sent to Pocotaligo, S. C., and thence, in April, 1863, to 
eastern North Carolina, marching a great deal and skir¬ 
mishing occasionally. July was spent at Richmond and 
part of August at Fredericksburg, after which the regi¬ 
ment joined the army of Northern Virginia again, at 
Gordonsville, and moved to Bristoe Station, where they 
attacked the enemy and suffered the heaviest loss so far 
in their record. At the Wilderness they fought desper¬ 
ately, Cooke’s and Kirkland’s brigades holding back an 
overwhelming force of the enemy. At Spottsylvania, 
Hanover, Turkey Ridge, Cold Harbor, on the lines 
before Richmond and Petersburg, Yellow House, 
Reams’ Station, and in many skirmishes, from the fall 
of 1864 to the spring of 1865, the regiment added new 
laurels to its battle-scarred flag. When the Forty- 
eighth surrendered at Appomattox it did not have more 
than enough left to make a full company, but they were 
all heroes. Captain Lawhon shared this record from 
beginning to end, participating in every battle, except 
Fredericksburg, when he was disabled by sickness. In 
the hand-to-hand fight at Reams’ Station he captured a 
stand of colors from the enemy. Soon after the close of 
hostilities he was married to Anne Jane Bostick, of Rich¬ 
mond county, and for a time engaged in agriculture, 
until, feeling anew the call to ministerial work, he entered 
upon service as a pastor of the Baptist church, in which 
capacity he is known and loved in many communities. 
For fourteen years he was moderator of the Sandy Creek 
association. His first wife died in 1888, leaving eight 
children, and in 1889 he married Nora E. Vestal. In 


598 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1893 lie was appointed by the governor to assist in the 
location of positions of North Carolina troops on the bat¬ 
tlefield of Sharpsburg. He was also selected to write 
the history of his regiment, a duty performed with much 
ability. In 1896 he was elected to the legislature, where 
he served with credit to himself and constituency. 

Lieutenant Nathan M. Lawrence, since 1894 the 
superintendent of the Masonic orphan asylum at Ox¬ 
ford, N. C., was born in Edgecombe county, October 25, 
1840. His father, Peter P. Lawrence, a native of Ten¬ 
nessee, of Welsh descent, was cashier of the bank at 
Tarboro for a period of thirty years. Mr. Lawrence was 
educated at Horner’s school, and left his occupation as a 
mercantile clerk in 1861, to enlist in the Edgecombe 
Home Guards. This volunteer organization was subse¬ 
quently Company I of the Fifteenth North Carolina regi¬ 
ment. With this command, during 1861, he was sta¬ 
tioned at Yorktown, Va., and subsequently took part in 
the fight at Dam No. 1, the siege of Yorktown and the 
battle of Williamsburg. He was at the front during the 
Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, and at Malvern 
hill received a severe wound which caused his disability 
for a considerable time. Upon his recovery, in the fall 
of 1862, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Com¬ 
pany H, Fifth regiment, North Carolina troops, and sta¬ 
tioned at Charleston. He was taken sick while on duty 
and was sent to his home, where before he could recover 
he was captured by a Federal party and carried to New 
Bern. From that time until the close of the war, a 
period of nearly two years, he was held in confinement 
at Johnson’s island, Lake Erie. After his return to 
North Carolina he was engaged in mercantile pursuits 
until 1882, and from that date until 1894 was agent of 
the Clyde line of steamers and general manager of the 
Tar River transportation company. Mr. Lawrence was 
married, in 1865, to Sallie, daughter of Thomas S. Hos- 
tins, of Edenton, who represented Choane county in the 
State legislature, and for a long time held the office of 
sheriff. 

John Pelapidas Leach, of Littleton, chief of staff of the 
Third brigade, United Confederate Veterans, division of 
North Carolina, was born in central North Carolina, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


599 


January 17, 1846. His military service in the Confed¬ 
erate army began in the summer of 1863, as a private in 
Company C, Fifty-third regiment, North Carolina troops, 
and he served in this capacity until the close of the war, 
participating in all the operations of Grimes’ brigade, 
Rodes’ division, during the period of his enlistment. 
The battles in which he took part were mainly those 
accessory to the siege of Richmond and Petersburg, in 
1864-65, including Hatcher’s Run, Hare’s Hill, and the 
engagement at Sailor’s creek during the retreat to 
Appomattox, where he was with the army when it was 
surrendered by General Lee. He was one of the sharp¬ 
shooters selected for the night assault upon Fort Sted- 
man, in the battle of Hare’s Hill, where his company lost 
20 men out of the 27 engaged, and he received a slight 
wound, the only one incurred in his service. For his 
gallantry in this action he was awarded a medal and sixty 
days’ furlough by General Gordon, corps commander. 
On several occasions during the war he was detailed with 
his company to convey prisoners to Andersonville, Ga., 
and on one of these trips he remained for a month at the 
stockade on guard duty. Returning to North Carolina 
after the surrender, Mr. Leach was engaged in the mer¬ 
cantile business at Raleigh from 1867 until 1872, and in 
the following year began farming in Halifax and Warren 
counties, his present occupation. He was elected to the 
State senate in 1892, and from 1893 to 1896 served as 
presiding justice of the criminal court of Warren county. 
In 1896 he was appointed to his present station in the 
Confederate veterans association, with the rank of lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel. Colonel Leach was married, in 1872, to 
Ellen Douglas Moore, of Raleigh, and they have five 
children living: Lucy Iana, Mabel, Catherine, John P. 
Jr-. and Sallie Moore. 

David Perry Lee, a veteran of the signal corps of the 
army of Northern Virginia, now a prominent farmer of 
Mecklenburg county, was born upon the plantation 
where he now resides, February 5, 1843. His parents 
were David M. Lee, who died in 1873, and Nancy A. 
Withers, a sister of Hon. T. J. Withers, of the Confed¬ 
erate States Congress, who is still living (1898), at the 
age of ninety-one years. He enlisted on August 11, 
1861, in Company B of the Thirteenth regiment, North 


600 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


Carolina troops, and served in the ranks during the bat¬ 
tles on the Virginia peninsula between Lee and McClel¬ 
lan, serving in all, as a private, about ten months, and 
was then detailed as one of the twelve men from the 
Thirteenth regiment, who, with twelve from the Third 
Louisiana, constituted the beginning of the Independent 
signal corps. By special act of Congress the mem¬ 
bership was afterward increased to 300. He served in 
this line of duty until the end of the war, rendering val¬ 
uable aid to the army, and witnessing all the stirring 
scenes which marked the passing from stem reality to 
history of the grand old army of Northern Virginia. At 
Appomattox he was one of the 35 of the original 300 sig¬ 
nal men who remained on duty, these being from the 
States of North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana. His 
first service was at Newport News, where he witnessed 
the naval combat between the Merrimac and the Federal 
fleet, and his last service was at Appomattox, guarding 
prisoners who were captured on the retreat from Peters¬ 
burg. Three brothers of Mr. Lee were in the Confeder¬ 
ate service. Pollock B., a lawyer in Memphis prior to 
the war, became a lieutenant in a Tennessee regiment, 
and was soon detailed as aide-de-camp to General Zolli- 
coffer, whom he accompanied to the fatal field of Fishing 
Creek. Subsequently he was one of the most trusted 
aides of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and of all the com¬ 
manders of the army of Tennessee, and at one time was 
assistant adjutant-general of the army with the rank of 
colonel. His death occurred at Memphis in 1867, and 
he was buried in Elmwood cemetery. He was much 
loved and widely known in the West, at one time being 
assistant adjutant-general of the army of Tennessee, as 
was evidenced by a sword presented him by the ladies of 
Memphis, Tenn. His last official act in the army was 
the turning over to the enemy, by order of General 
Johnston, his native town. Junius M. Lee served with 
the Hornet’s Nest Riflemen, and later with the Fifth 
North Carolina cavalry, and died in 1897. Francis 
Marion Lee, a younger brother, was a member of the 
Fifth cavalry, and died in 1864 from pneumonia, con¬ 
tracted during Gen. Wade Hampton’s famous cattle raid. 
The subject of this sketch has given his attention en¬ 
tirely to the management of his extensive land posses¬ 
sions since the war, and is now one of the county’s most 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


601 


prosperous citizens. He is a member of Mecklenburg 
camp, U. C. V., and commander of Sharon township 
branch. By his marriage, in 1875, to Ann Luzenia Rea, 
he has four children. 

Colonel Stephen Lee, born at Charleston, S. C., 1810, 
died at Asheville, 1879, was the son of Judge Thomas 
Lee, a man of much prominence in his time. He was 
educated at the United States military academy, and was 
assigned as an instructor to the Charleston military 
academy, where he taught for several years, until 1844, 
when he removed to Asheville and founded a boys* 
school, which speedily gained wide fame and popularity. 
This work, however, he resigned in the spring of 1861, 
to accept the commission of eolonel of the Sixth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina volunteers, one of the earliest to 
go to the front in Virginia. He was ordered with his 
regiment to western Virginia to meet the invasion under 
McClellan and Rosecrans, and was there during the 
operations immediately following the disaster at Laurel 
hill, intrusted with important duties by Gen. H. R. Jack- 
son and General Loring. He continued to serve under 
Gen. R. E. Lee in that arduous campaign until his health 
failed. He retained his commission until his resignation, 
in 1863, after which he rendered valuable service to the 
State in putting new troops in the field. After the close 
of hostilities he resumed his work as a teacher and con¬ 
tinued in that occupation until his death. By his mar¬ 
riage, at Charleston, to his cousin, Caroline Lee, he had 
fourteen children, of whom nine sons served in the Con¬ 
federate army. John Miles Lee, the eldest, enlisted 
from South Carolina, and served throughout the war; 
William Franklin Lee, who now resides in Florida, 
enlisted from that State, became lieutenant of his com¬ 
pany, and lost an arm in battle, but returned to the field 
on his recovery and served to the end. Charles Coch¬ 
rane Lee was graduated at West Point in 1856, was pro¬ 
moted second lieutenant of ordnance, resigned in 1859, 
was an instructor at Charlotte, N. C., and in 1861 was 
commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the First North Caro¬ 
lina regiment, of which Lieut.-Gen. D. H. Hill was then 
colonel. He rendered distinguished service with this 
command at the battle of Big Bethel, and after the. dis¬ 
bandment of the regiment became colonel of the Thirty- 


C02 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


seventh, which he led in the battles before Richmond 
until killed, at Frayser’s farm, June 30, 1862. Thomas 
Lee, a teacher in South Carolina at the beginning of the 
war, enlisted in that State and served in the army of 
Northern Virginia until he died in military hospital from 
disease incurred on the field. Henry Burns Lee and 
Stephen Lee, Jr., enlisted in North Carolina in the Bun¬ 
combe Rifles. Stephen died in hospital, at Richmond, 
and Henry became a member of the staff of Gen. S. D. 
Lee, and being taken prisoner was confined at John¬ 
son’s island. He died in 1897. Benjamin M. Lee 
enlisted from Asheville, in the summer of 1863, in Com¬ 
pany A, Twenty-fifth regiment, South Carolina troops, 
shared the service of that command in Virginia and 
North Carolina; was captured at the fall of Fort Fisher 
and was subsequently a prisoner of war until July, 1865. 
Subsequently he joined his brother in Florida, and was 
there engaged in civil engineering until 1887, when he 
made his home at Asheville again, where he has since 
held the office of city engineer. Joseph T. Lee, of this 
nobly patriotic family, entered the army in 1864, and 
after serving in eastern North Carolina, died in hospital 
at Goldsboro. James Hardy Lee, the youngest, served 
in the vicinity of Asheville in Company B of reserves, 
under Gen. J. G. Martin. His home, for some years 
past, has been in Asheville. 

Lewis Leon, one of the leading business men of Char¬ 
lotte, N. C., and a veteran of the Confederate States serv¬ 
ice, was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, November 27, 
1841. Three years later he was brought by his parents 
to New York city, whence he removed to Charlotte in 
1858, and engaged in mercantile pursuits as a clerk. Be¬ 
coming a member of the Charlotte Grays, he entered the 
active service with that command, going to the camp of 
instruction at Raleigh on April 21, 1861. The Grays 
were assigned to Col. D. H. Hill’s regiment, the First, 
as Company C, and going to Virginia, took part in the 
battle of Big Bethel, in which Private Leon was a partici¬ 
pant. At the expiration of the six months’ enlistment of 
the Bethel regiment, he re-enlisted in Company B, Capt. 
Harvey White, of the Fifty-third regiment, commanded 
by Col. William Owen. He shared the service of this 
regiment in its subsequent honorable career, fighting at 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


603 


Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Mine Run and the Wilder¬ 
ness, receiving a slight wound at Gettysburg, but not 
allowing it to interfere with his duty. During the larger 
part of his service he was a sharpshooter. At the Wil¬ 
derness, May, 1864, he was captured by the enemy, and 
from that time until June, 1865, was a prisoner of war at 
Point Lookout and Elmira, N. Y. Upon being paroled 
he visited his parents in New York city, and then worked 
his way back to Charlotte, where, after a few years, 
he was able to found a business which has since been 
quite successful. He is warmly regarded by his com¬ 
rades of Mecklenburg camp, U. C. V., and has served 
three terms as its commander. On April 3, 1873, he was 
married to Miss Sarah Levy, of New York, and they 
have three children. 

Captain John W. Lewis, of Halifax county, Va., was 
born in that county, February 19, 1831, the son of War¬ 
ner M. Lewis, a farmer of that county, and descended 
from Gen. Robert Lewis, who came to Virginia from 
Wales in 1640. The family is widespread and promi¬ 
nent. One of its members, Fielding Lewis, married a 
sister of Gen. George Washington. The mother of Cap¬ 
tain Lewis was Elizabeth Hinton, of Wake county, N. 
C., who died in 1832, at the age of twenty-five years. 
He was reared at Milton, N. C., and educated at Love- 
joy’s military academy and the university of his adopted 
State. Returning to Halifax county in 1850 he was 
engaged in farming until the crisis of 1861 arrived. 
Though an old-line Whig and a friend of the Union, he 
was impelled by the call from Washington for 75,000 
troops, to prepare for the defense of his State. Before 
the ordinance of secession he had raised a company, 
known as the Bruce Guards, which was offered to Gov¬ 
ernor Letcher. He became captain of the company in 
June, 1861, and it was mustered in the following month, 
as Company E, Nineteenth Virginia infantry, Wise’s 
legion. On September 21st following, while engaged 
in scouting at Sewell mountain, he was seriously wounded 
in the right shoulder. He was disabled for several 
months, and during this time his company was captured 
at Roanoke island. In July, 1862, with his arm yet in a 
sling, he organized another company, which was mus¬ 
tered into the artillery service as Lewis’ battery. After 


604 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


participating in the battle of Fredericksburg, he was 
again compelled to retire from the service by his wound 
breaking out afresh, and with the exception of participa¬ 
tion in the fight at Staunton river bridge, he was debarred 
from further military duty. In December, 1863, he was 
elected to the Virginia legislature, and with re-election 
he served to the close of the war, rendering patriotic 
service in that body. Subsequently he engaged in 
farming until 1870, when he entered the tobacco busi¬ 
ness, with which he is yet connected. Captain Lewis 
was married, in 1855, to Anna Hinton, who died in 1857; 
in r86o to Elizabeth A. Baskerville, who died in 1880; 
and in 1885 to Lizzie Walker. He has nine children 
living. 

Captain Thomas C. Lewis, of Wilmington, a gallant 
officer of the Eighteenth regiment, North Carolina 
troops, was born near Newport, R. I., in 1839, and reared 
and educated in that New England State. He removed 
to Wilmington in 1857, and becoming a member of the 
Wilmington Rifle Guards, went on duty with that organ¬ 
ization early in the conflict. When it became Company 
I of the Eighteenth regiment, he was appointed a ser¬ 
geant, and after the re-enlistment in 1862, he served as 
quartermaster-sergeant until the battle of Second Manas¬ 
sas, when he was elected second lieutenant of his com¬ 
pany. At this battle he received a severe wound in the 
hip which disabled him for half a year. Upon rejoining 
his command he was elected captain, the rank he held 
until, in the disaster to Johnson’s division at Spottsylva- 
nia Court House, he was made prisoner. He was con¬ 
fined at Fort Delaware and shared the bitter experience 
of the 600 officers held under fire at Morris island, and 
was not released until June, 1865. During his service he 
also took part in the great battles of Fredericksburg and 
Chancellorsville, and was wounded in one of the skir¬ 
mishes in Virginia. 

William H. Lilly, M. D., of Concord, formerly a sur¬ 
geon in the Confederate States service, was born in 
Montgomery county, February 22, 1834, son of John A. 
and Harriet E. (Tomlinson) Lilly. He was educated 
at Emory and Henry college, Virginia, and subsequently 
studied medicine and was graduated at the university 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 605 

medical college of New York. But early in the year 
1862 he laid aside for the time his plans of professional 
ambition and enlisted as a private soldier in Company 
E, Fifty-second North Carolina regiment. When the 
company was organized he was elected first lieutenant, 
and when the regiment was organized he was appointed 
assistant surgeon. Soon afterward he was commissioned 
surgeon of the Fifty-second, the capacity and rank in 
which he served during the rest of the war. He was 
with his regiment, in Pettigrew’s brigade, Heth’s divi¬ 
sion, A. P. Hill’s corps, throughout its career, being 
absent but ten days from duty, and won for himself the 
love and grateful memories of his men, by his devotion 
and self-sacrifice in their behalf. Since 1869 he has 
enjoyed a large and lucrative practice at Concord, and is 
highly esteemed by the community. In 1869 he was 
married to Mary E., daughter of Dr. John H. Montgom¬ 
ery. A younger brother of Dr. Lilly, Thomas Lilly, 
left Emory and Henry college in 1861 and enlisted with 
an Anson county company, which became Company K, 
Twenty-sixth regiment, Colonel Vance’s old command. 
He was later promoted to captain and was given com¬ 
mand of the sharpshooters of Pettigrew’s brigade. From 
the Seven Days’ battles to the evacuation of Petersburg 
he made an unblemished record of patriotism and gal¬ 
lantry. He was wounded in the immortal charge of Pet¬ 
tigrew and Pickett at Gettysburg, also slightly on other 
occasions, and fatally while on the picket line at Peters¬ 
burg about the time of the evacuation. He died in the 
hospital at Richmond on April 13, 1865, as a result of his 
wounds. 

Thomas W. Lindsay, of Beaufort, a survivor of the 
Tenth North Carolina artillery, is a native of Beaufort, 
born in 1843, and was educated at that city. On May 
10, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Second regiment 
of volunteers, one of the first ten regiments formed in 
the State, from which he was transferred in August fol¬ 
lowing to Company H of the Tenth regiment, heavy 
artillery. He entered this command as fourth sergeant 
and continued on duty, mainly in coast defense, through¬ 
out the war, at the close being second sergeant of his bat¬ 
tery. At the fall of Fort Macon, Beaufort harbor, in 
April, 1862, he was captured by the Federals, and after 


G06 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


being paroled was exchanged in the fall of that year. 
He also took part in the battle of Goldsboro Bridge and 
the siege and capture of Plymouth, under General Hoke, 
and his military career was ended in the spring of 1865 
by his parole at Stantonburg. Since then he has resided 
at Beaufort and has been engaged in business with much 
success. During the first administration of President 
Cleveland he held the office of assistant postmaster. Mr. 
Lindsay was married, in 1873, to Jane W. Davis, who 
died in 1881, leaving two children, Mary A. and Thomas 
W. Jr. In 1884 he married Elizabeth B. Davis, and they 
have one child, Warren W. Lindsay. 

Lieutenant Shedrick H. Loftin, of Kinston, a veteran 
of the Third regiment, North Carolina cavalry, is a 
native of Lenoir county, born in 1839, and was educated 
at his home and at Wake Forest college. He enlisted in 
the spring of 1861 as a private in the Kinston Rifles, a 
volunteer organization formed at Kinston, which was 
assigned to the Ninth regiment volunteers, afterward the 
Twenty-seventh regiment, commanded by Col. George 
B. Singletary, but two or three months later was trans¬ 
ferred to the Third cavalry. With this command he 
served during the remainder of the war, at the close hav¬ 
ing the rank of junior second lieutenant and acting cap¬ 
tain of Company E. He was in the fights at New Bern 
and Kinston in the earlier part of the struggle, cam¬ 
paigned on the Blackwater river, and later in Barringer’s 
gallant brigade of North Carolina troopers, served about 
Petersburg eight or nine months in frequent encounters 
with the enemy, fighting in the famous battles of Ash¬ 
land, Five Forks, High Bridge and Sailor’s Creek. 
Escaping the disasters on the final retreat, he participated 
in the last combat at Appomattox Court House, and 
making his way through the Federal lines united with 
Johnston’s army and was surrendered at Greensboro. 
Since the close of hostilities he has made his home at 
Kinston, where he is now prominent in business and 
financial circles as a banker. In 1877 he was married to 
Miss Willie R. Sutton. Two brothers of Mr. Loftin 
were also in the Confederate service: Elijah P., who 
served in the last year of the war as a private, and 
W. C. R. Loftin, who was a private in General Hoke’s 
command throughout the four years of conflict. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


607 


Captain William Lord London, of Pittsboro, brigadier- 
general commanding Second brigade, North Carolina 
division, United Confederate Veterans, was born at Pitts¬ 
boro, April 3, 1838, the son of Henry A. and Sallie M. 
(Lord) London. His grandfathers, John R. London and 
William C. Lord, were both natives of Wilmington, the 
former being an officer of the patriot army of the war of 
the revolution. When North Carolina took up arms in 
defense of the Confederacy, young London left his 
employment as clerk in his father’s store and enlisted as 
a private in the Chatham Rifles, a volunteer organization 
which was first assigned to the Fifteenth regiment, State 
troops, as Company M, and later to the Thirty-second 
regiment. He was mustered in as second lieutenant of 
his company, in June following was promoted to first 
lieutenant, and in May, 1862, was promoted to captain. 
At the opening of the campaign of the army of Northern 
Virginia, in 1863, he was in command of the sharpshoot¬ 
ers of his brigade, Gen. Junius Daniel’s, and was com¬ 
mended by General Daniel for his services at Gettysburg 
and on the retreat. Colonel Brabble, of the Thirty-sec¬ 
ond, in reporting the battle, wrote: “Where all behaved 
so well, it is difficult to discriminate, yet justice requires 
that I should mention Capt. William L. London. To his 
skill and gallantry is greatly due whatever of service the 
regiment may have rendered in the battle.” He was at 
once, in recognition of his gallantry, assigned to General 
Daniel’s staff as inspector-general, and later in the year 
was made adjutant-general of the brigade, which after 
the Wilderness was led by Gen. Bryan Grimes. Captain 
London was identified with the gallant record of his bri¬ 
gade and regiment throughout the war, from his first 
battle at Dam No. 1, under Magruder, to the final scene 
with Lee at Appomattox. He was severely wounded at 
Malvern hill, was shot in the right arm at Gettysburg, 
and received a third wound, a ball passing through his 
body, at Winchester, with Early, in 1864. Yet it was 
his good fortune to be able to return promptly to duty 
and to miss few of the historic battles of the army. The 
career of this gallant and devoted soldier aptly represents 
the heroism of the North Carolina soldiery. 

Jacob A. Long, of Graham, was born in Alamance 
county, in 1846, son of Jacob Long, a farmer of that 


608 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


county, of which his grandfather was also a native, his 
great-grandfather, Conrad Long, being a native of Ger¬ 
many who immigrated in 1750. The great-uncles of Mr. 
Long were soldiers of the revolution; his mother’s father, 
Col. John Stockard, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and 
the latter’s father, James Stockard, fought in the patriot 
army in the war for independence. Gov. William Trous¬ 
dale, of Tennessee, whose mother was a sister of James 
Stockard, was with Jackson at New Orleans. Inspired 
by the example of such ancestry, Jacob A. Long, a 
schoolboy in Virginia during the early part of the Con¬ 
federate war, gladly joined the hastily gathered force of 
militia, who defended the Staunton bridge against Fed¬ 
eral raiders in the spring of 1864, for five hours maintain¬ 
ing an action that resulted in the repulse of the enemy. 
At the close of his term of school following this memor¬ 
able incident, he went to Petersburg, Va., and enlisted 
as a private in the battery of Capt. Samuel T. Wright, in 
the artillery of Anderson's corps, in May, 1864. During 
the siege of Petersburg he was stationed with his artil¬ 
lery company on the lines immediately to the left of 
where the mine explosion occurred, July 30, 1864. He 
and his comrades, expecting such a demonstration, had 
been aroused every morning at 3 o’clock and made ready 
to repel the enemy, and when the shock came, upheaving 
great sections of the works and throwing men and cannon 
in the air, his battery was ready to promptly turn their 
guns upon the advancing Federals and render effective 
assistance in the memorable fight, which resulted in the 
recovery of the line by Lee’s army. For his part in this 
battle Private Long was promoted to corporal in his bat¬ 
tery, a fitting recognition of his youthful daring and 
intrepidity. Again, on March 25, 1865, in the famous 
sortie of Gordon’s corps against the Federal works on 
Hare’s hill, he fought with heroism. Indeed, through¬ 
out this long and famous siege, he worthily acquitted 
himself as a comrade of the battle-scarred veterans who 
held the lines against Grant’s overwhelming forces. 
During the retreat he was constantly in service, and at 
Appomattox, about 11 o’clock, April 9th, he spiked his 
gun and with three companions escaped through the 
enemy’s line and made his way to Johnston’s army, with 
which he was surrendered at Greensboro. Subsequently 
he attended the school of Dr. Alexander Wilson at Mel- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


609 


ville and then entered upon the study of law with Wil¬ 
liam Ruffin at Hillsboro. Since 1874 he has been one of 
the leading lawyers of Graham. In 1892-93 he was chair¬ 
man of the house finance committee in the State legisla¬ 
ture. He was married, in 1871, to Esta, daughter of 
David P. Teague, and seven children have been born of 
this union, his eldest daughter being musical director at 
Elon college. 

Lieutenant James J. Loughlin, of Warrenton, formerly 
of the Thirtieth regiment, North Carolina State troops, 
was born at Manchester, England, June 16, 1840. At 
the age of seventeen years he came to the United States 
and first settled at Norfolk, but subsequently found 
employment at Warrenton, where he now resides. There, 
in 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Capt. 
William C. Drake, of the Thirtieth regiment, Col. F. M. 
Parker. Soon after his enlistment and the organization 
of the regiment, he was promoted first sergeant, and 
about two years later became second lieutenant and was 
put in command of the sharpshooters of the regiment. 
With the Thirtieth, in George B. Anderson’s brigade, he 
took part in all the battles of his command during his 
service at the front, including the Seven Days before 
Richmond, Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, South Mountain, 
Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettys¬ 
burg. During the return of the army from Pennsyl¬ 
vania, during the latter part of July, he took part in a 
skirmish at Manassas gap and had the misfortune to be 
captured. As a prisoner of war he was carried to the 
Old Capitol prison and thence to Johnson’s island, where 
he was held until June, 1865, nearly two years of impris¬ 
onment. Upon his release Lieutenant Loughlin returned 
to Norfolk, but subsequently made his home at Warren¬ 
ton, where he was married in December, 1865, to Lucy 
A. Johnson. They have four children living: James J., 
Jr., quartermaster of the Second regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina State troops; Mrs. Isabella Tunstall, Mrs. Lucy H. 
Mabry, and Minnie M. Loughlin. 

William Love, of Greensboro, a veteran of the Forty- 
seventh regiment, North Carolina State troops, was born 
in Alamance county, in April, 1839. He is of North 
Carolina descent, his father, William Love, and his 


610 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


grandfather, Charles Love, a soldier of the war of 1812, 
having been natives of that State; his mother was a 
daughter of Christian Isley, who came to Alamance 
county from Ireland. Mr. Love left his civil employ¬ 
ment to enlist, July 2, 1862, as a private in Company K, 
Forty-seventh regiment, and was promoted to corporal. 
From the period of his enlistment he was identified with 
the record made by his gallant regiment and Pettigrew’s 
brigade on the battlefields of the army of Northern Vir¬ 
ginia, was in many battles and on every occasion proved 
himself a brave and steadfast soldier. The principal 
engagements in which he participated were Gettysburg, 
the Wilderness, Hanover Junction and Cold Harbor. He 
was twice wounded, most severely at Reams’ Station, 
where he was shot through the thigh. After going 
through the arduous service and deprivation and danger 
of defending the lines of Petersburg through the long 
siege, he was captured during the fighting of the early 
days of April, 1865, and carried to Point Lookout, where 
he was held as a prisoner of war until June 28th. Since 
his return home he has been mainly engaged in the lum¬ 
ber trade, which he has prosecuted with much success. 
By his marriage, in 1861, to Miss S. A. Morton, he has 
children living: Alice L., Lena, James A., Annie E., 
William H., Sallie P. and Ernest E. It is an interest¬ 
ing fact that Mr. Love’s family, having mainly removed 
to the north, was divided by the war and that he had a 
brother in the Union armies. 

Henry T. J. Ludwig, of the faculty of North Carolina 
college, Mount Pleasant, was born in Cabarrus county in 
1843, son of Jacob and Sophia (House) Ludwig. His 
ancestry, originally of German origin, has been North 
Carolinian since 1766 and has a patriotic record equal to 
any, his great-grandfather, Elias House, having lost an 
arm fighting for the independence of the United States, 
and his grandfather, Jacob House, having been a soldier 
of 1812. He also had an uncle, George Ludwig, who 
served as cavalryman in the Black Hawk war. He was 
educated at North Carolina college until he was eighteen 
years of age, and North Carolina then calling upon her 
sons for military service, he enlisted in 1861, going to the 
field as drummer-boy of Company H, Eighth regiment. 
He shared the record of his regiment from the beginning 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


611 


to the end, going through the fight at Roanoke island 
and the subsequent experience as a prisoner of war and 
doing his share in all the battles of the regiment, includ¬ 
ing the hard fighting at Charleston, and in Hoke’s divi¬ 
sion at Plymouth and before Petersburg. He was cap¬ 
tured on the Petersburg lines, August 19, 1864, but soon 
recaptured. After the final battle of Bentonville and the 
surrender by Johnston, he engaged for a few years in 
farming, but in 1869 entered upon his life work as an 
instructor at North Carolina college. He was elected 
professor of mathematics in 1871, a position he has since 
retained and most creditably filled. He was for several 
years a correspondent of the Mathematical Visitor; is at 
this time a member of the American mathematical soci¬ 
ety, and in 1894 received from Newberry college the 
degree of Ph. D. For eight years he was secretary of 
the State Grange, and at present he holds the position of 
superintendent of public schools of his county. 

William James Lumsden, M. D., of Elizabeth City, 
was born at Greensboro, N. C., April 10, 1846. He is 
the son of Rev. James D. Lumsden, a native of Edin¬ 
burgh, Scotland, who came to Virginia in childhood, 
was reared at Richmond, married Mrs. Brandon, nee 
Miss Elmira Harris, of Stanley county, N. C., and 
became a minister of the Virginia conference of the 
Methodist church. Young Lumsden was educated at 
Crenshaw and Hardy’s academy, at Blackstone, Va., 
but in the spring of 1861, when fifteen years of age, he 
left his studies to enter the military service of the Con¬ 
federate States. Enlisting in April, 1861, in Matthews 
county, in Armistead’s battery, light artillery, of the Vir¬ 
ginia forces, he served as a private, doing duty at York- 
town and Gloucester Point, until he was taken seriously 
ill during the siege of Yorktown, which so impaired his 
health that he was honorably discharged after several 
months’ sickness. He then secured an appointment to 
the Virginia military academy, at Lexington, and during 
the remainder of the war was identified with the history 
of that institution and the famous record of the cadets, 
notably the battle of New Market, where they were the 
heroes of the fight, capturing a Federal battery and turn¬ 
ing the guns upon the foe. After the college buildings 
were burned by Hunter, the school was continued at 

Nc 62 


612 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Richmond, where Cadet Lumsden divided his time 
between study and military service. They were the last 
to leave the city in April, 1865, and he then, with others 
of the cadets, went to Lynchburg and thence joined the 
army under General Johnston, and was surrendered at 
Greensboro. Immediately after the close of hostilities 
he found employment in teaching school at Elizabeth 
City, where his father was then stationed, and in 1869 he 
was graduated in medicine at the university of Mary¬ 
land, and entered upon the practice of that profession at 
Elizabeth City. He has had an honorable and successful 
career as a physician, and is highly regarded as a citizen. 
He is president of the Pasquotank county medical soci¬ 
ety, and a member of the State medical society, the 
American medical association, the American public 
health association, and has been a member of the State 
board of health, and member of the board of examiners 
for pensions. In 1874 he was married to Miss S. L. 
Kennedy. 

John H. McAden, M. D., former brigade surgeon of 
Scales’ brigade, of later years a banker and prominent 
citizen of Charlotte, was born in Caswell county, March 
13, 1835. He is descended from Rev. Hugh McAden, 
one of the pioneer Presbyterian clergymen of North Caro¬ 
lina, whose father immigrated to America from the north 
of Scotland. Both his grandfather, John McAden, and 
his father, Henry McAden, were medical practitioners 
and prominent in their profession. His mother was 
Frances, daughter of Hon. Bartlett Yancey, a well- 
known congressman of the former times, in whose honor 
the town of Yanceyville and the county of Yancey 
received their names. By the early death of his parents, 
Major McAden was orphaned at the age of five years. 
He was reared in his native county and educated at the 
university of North Carolina. Then giving his attention 
to the study of medicine, he was graduated at Jefferson 
medical college in 1857. Beginning the practice in Cas¬ 
well county, he continued there until the spring of 1861, 
when he was commissioned surgeon in the Confederate 
States army and assigned to the Thirteenth North Caro¬ 
lina regiment, whose fortunes he shared through the bat¬ 
tles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Cold 
Harbor, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern Hill, South Mountain and 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


613 


Sharpsburg. Col. A. M. Scales then being promoted 
brigadier-general, he was assigned to the latter’s staff as 
brigade surgeon. In this capacity he went through the 
campaigns of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Get¬ 
tysburg, and after the latter battle was detailed by Gen¬ 
eral Pender to remain at Gettysburg and take charge of 
the severely wounded of his division. Three weeks later, 
with thirteen other Confederate surgeons, he went to 
Baltimore for transfer to the Confederate lines, but there 
the whole party was arrested and held as hostages for an 
Assistant Surgeon Rucker, who had been captured by 
General Early’s men, and it was understood was threat¬ 
ened with execution. It was represented to the fourteen 
Confederates that in case Rucker met this fate, they 
should draw lots to determine which of their number 
would lose his life in retaliation. But, happily, Rucker 
escaped and McAden and his party, after several months 
of imprisonment, were permitted to rejoin their friends. 
Reaching the army again, in December, 1863, he con¬ 
tinued in active service and was in the sanguinary con¬ 
flicts of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, 
Second Cold Harbor, Harrison’s Landing, the fights about 
Petersburg, including Reams’ Station and Five Forks, 
and Appomattox. After the close of hostilities he 
engaged in the wholesale drug trade at Charlotte and 
followed that with much success until 1875, when he 
retired. Since then he has held the presidency of the 
Merchants’ and Farmers’ bank, and is prominently asso¬ 
ciated with other enterprises, president of the McAden 
cotton mills, on Catawba river, president of the Spartan¬ 
burg, Union & Columbia railroad, and a director of the 
Victor cotton mills. He was married in October, 1871, 
to Sallie Jenkins, of Salisbury, and has seven children. 

Lieutenant H. C. McAllister, one of the survivors of 
the Cabarrus Guards, was born in Gaston county, Sep¬ 
tember 8, 1835, the son of George W. McAllister, a cap¬ 
tain of the State militia. His paternal ancestry was of 
Scotch-Irish origin, and that of his mother, Elizabeth 
Plunk, was of German extraction. Jacob Plunk, his 
grandfather, was a soldier of the revolution. Lieutenant 
McAllister enlisted April 17, 1861, in the Cabarrus 
Guards, and in August following was detailed drill-mas¬ 
ter for a company then forming at Mount Pleasant, 


614 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Cabarrus county, and was elected second lieutenant at 
the organization of the company. In September follow¬ 
ing, this became Company H of the Eighth regiment, 
State troops, a regiment with which he was identified 
throughout the war. He was in the battle of Roanoke 
Island, and being surrendered shared the imprisonment 
of his comrades on the steamer Spaulding. Being re¬ 
turned to the service by exchange in August, 1862, he 
was on duty with his regiment in North Carolina, South 
Carolina and Virginia, serving twenty-two days at Bat¬ 
tery Wagner during the siege, and in 1864, in Cling- 
man’s brigade of Hoke’s division, participated in the cap¬ 
ture of Plymouth, the battles of Bermuda Hundred, 
Drewry’s Bluff and Cold Harbor. At Cold Harbor, 
while looking after the dead and wounded of the Eighth 
regiment, by order of General Hoke, during an armistice 
for that purpose, he was taken prisoner by Federal 
troops and detained for forty-eight hours, but was 
returned by order of General Grant, at the instance of 
General Lee. In 1865 he was with his command at Wil¬ 
mington and in the battle of Kinston and other engage¬ 
ments. He was twice wounded, at Petersburg, June 
16th, on left knee by a spent ball, and August 19, 
1864, through the right leg. After the surrender by Gen¬ 
eral Johnston he returned home, with the rank of first 
lieutenant, and soon found an avenue to success in civil 
life as a contractor and builder, which has been his occu¬ 
pation up to the present. Since 1872 he has served as a 
magistrate continuously, and in 1882 he was elected to 
the legislature. By his marriage, in 1862, to Fannie 
Cook, he has eight children: Robert Lee, Martha A., 
Sallie A., John B., George F., Lulu Blanche, Emma 
May and Maggie Cook. 

Lieutenant David McCauley, of Chapel Hill, was one 
of five brothers who answered the call of North Carolina 
during the war of the Confederacy and fought in the 
ranks of the Confederate armies. He enlisted in April, 
1861, in the company formed in Orange county, under 
Capt. R. J. Ashe, which was one of the first in the State 
to volunteer. It became Company D of the First regi¬ 
ment of volunteers, commanded by Col. D. H. Hill, and 
after the organization at Raleigh, Private McCauley 
accompanied his command to the peninsula of Virginia, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


615 


where he took part in the famous battle of Big Bethel. 
After the period of enlistment had expired, the regiment 
was disbanded and Mr. McCauley was elected to office 
under the civil government of North Carolina. During 
the remainder of the war he held the rank of first lieu¬ 
tenant in the reserves. While a participant in none of the 
great battles, he was frequently on duty against the Fed¬ 
eral raiders and served in a number of skirmishes in the 
State. Finally he surrendered at Salisbury. His brother 
James was a member of a Texas regiment and died in 
the service. Samuel J. McCauley served in the Junior 
reserves in North Carolina; Benjamin was killed in the 
memorable assault on Malvern hill, in 1862, and George, 
of the Twenty-eighth regiment, North Carolina troops, 
Lane’s brigade, attained the rank of captain, and after 
four years’ service received wounds in the last charge at 
Appomattox which caused his death soon afterward. 
These patriotic boys were the sons of Benjamin Mc¬ 
Cauley, a farmer of Orange county. David McCauley 
was born May 20, 1832, and since 1853 has been engaged 
in business at Chapel Hill, with the exception of the four 
years of the war. In addition to his mercantile inter¬ 
ests he gives his attention to agricultural pursuits. In 
political affairs he has been prominent as chairman of the 
township committee of the Democratic party. 

Major Charles W. McClammy was born near Wilming¬ 
ton, N. C., at Scott’s Hill, the son of a prominent fanner 
of that region. He was well educated and graduated 
with the highest honors at Chapel Hill, after which he 
returned to his home and engaged in farming with his 
father. At the beginning of hostilities, in 1861, he 
joined a cavalry company commanded by Captain New¬ 
kirk, and was elected lieutenant of this organization. 
This company did good service in eastern North Caro¬ 
lina, among its achievements capturing a gunboat of the 
enemy which had grounded in New river in Onslow 
county. It was subsequently assigned to the Third North 
Carolina cavalry as Company A, and upon the resigna¬ 
tion of Captain Newkirk, First Lieutenant McClammy 
was promoted to the captaincy. His subsequent gallant 
career is well described in the following extract from an 
address delivered by Colonel Moore: “But there was one 
gallant spirit, one dashing chivalric soul among them, 


616 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


that if these departed heroes could be consulted, they 
would say, ‘Tell of the brave deeds and heroic achieve¬ 
ments of our gallant Major McClammy. ’ From the time 
he gave his services to his State and country, he was all 
enthusiasm and dash, and never lost an opportunity to do 
his best. In nearly every fight our regiment was en¬ 
gaged in, he was present, and in glorious service. His 
services were so meritorious that Colonel Baker, before 
his capture, spoke of wanting to promote him. When 
he was promoted, he was the ninth captain in rank, and 
one of if not the very youngest. It was my pleasure to 
recommend and urge his promotion, and I have never 
regretted it. It was a great compliment, but altogether 
deserved. He was complimented in general orders for 
gallant services both in the White Oak and Charles City 
road. He was dashing and gallant to the end. He was 
my warm personal friend. I admired and loved him for 
his many noble traits. After the war, returning to his 
farm, he followed his chosen vocation until called from 
the plowhandles to serve you in the House of Represent¬ 
atives as member from New Hanover county; then in 
our State senate, as senator from New Hanover and 
Brunswick; then as a Cleveland elector; and then as 
your representative in Congress for four years. After 
this he retired to his farm, enjoying the quiet of rural 
life. While thus engaged, his life was ended by a 
lamentable accident, and his old comrades were over¬ 
whelmed with mourning.” 

James H. McClintock, a former county official, and 
now a prosperous farmer of Mecklenburg county, was 
born in Chester county, S. C., December 18, 1844. His 
parents, Matthew and Jennie (Jamieson) McClintock, 
were natives of the same county. In February, 1864, he 
left the home farm to enter the Confederate service, and 
at Charleston became a private in Company F of the 
Twenty-third South Carolina infantry. With this com¬ 
mand he was soon called to the defense of Richmond and 
Petersburg by Beauregard, and was first in battle before 
Petersburg, June 16th. This proved to be his last battle 
as well as first, for he received a severe wound in the 
left arm which made amputation necessary. After six 
weeks in hospital he returned home, having experienced 
but a comparatively brief service, but he had suffered in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


617 


that time his full share of the miseries of war. He 
entered Davidson college, North Carolina, in 1867, and 
was graduated in 1870, whereupon he taught school for 
ten years, in the two Carolinas, and afterward engaged 
in farming in Mecklenburg county, of which he had 
become a citizen. Here in 1882 he was elected superin¬ 
tendent of education and was re-elected in 1884, but 
resigned to accept the office of county treasurer, which 
by successive re-elections he held with distinction as a 
faithful and active public official, for the period of ten 
years. Since then he has given his attention to farming. 
He is an active member of the Mecklenburg camp, a 
director of the Alpha cotton mills and prominent in the 
councils of the Presbyterian church. By his marriage, 
in 1873, to Emma Hunter, of Mecklenburg county, he 
has seven children. 

Colonel Matthew Locke McCorkle, of Newton, N. C., 
was born in Catawba county, November 7, 1817. He is 
the grandson of Francis McCorkle, a native of Mecklen¬ 
burg county, who was a gallant soldier of the revolution, 
participating in the battles of Ramseur’s Mills, King’s 
Mountain, Eutaw Springs, Cowan’s Ford and Torrence’s 
Tavern. Francis McCorkle was a son of Matthew Mc¬ 
Corkle, of Scotch-Irish parentage, who came to America 
about 1745. Colonel McCorkle entered Davidson college 
in 1838, and though compelled to teach school during a 
part of his academic course, was able to graduate with 
his class. Subsequently he read law with Chief Justice 
Pearson and began practice in 1845 at the county seat of 
Catawba, now the city of Newton. In 1846 he was 
appointed clerk of the superior court, to fill a vacancy, 
and subsequently being elected, held the office until 
1850. Upon the passage of the ordinance of secession by 
North Carolina, he devoted himself heartily to the sup¬ 
port of the State, and though advanced in years, sought 
active duty on the field. He organized a company, of 
which he was elected captain, and this was assigned as 
Company F, to the Thirteenth regiment, North Carolina 
volunteers, known at a later date as the Twenty-third. 
Accompanying this command to Virginia, he was on duty 
near Manassas Junction until the spring of 1862, and 
then marched to reinforce Magruder on the peninsula. 
After the evacuation of Yorktown, he participated in his 


618 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


first battle at Williamsburg. At this time his health was 
completely wrecked and he was compelled to resign and 
return to his home. During the latter part of the war he 
held the rank of colonel, commanding a regiment of the 
Senior reserves. From 1864 until 1867 he represented the 
counties of Lincoln, Catawba and Gaston in the State 
senate, and in 1875 was a member of the constitutional 
convention. His high reputation as a jurist warranted 
his appointment, by Governor Fowle, in August, 1890, 
as judge of the superior court of the Eleventh judicial 
district. During his service upon the bench, it was 
observed that upon all appeals to the supreme court his 
judgments were affirmed by the higher tribunal. Upon 
his retirement from the bench he was the recipient of 
many complimentary notices of his ability, fairness and 
impartiality. Judge McCorkle was married, in 1850, to 
Jane M. A. Wilfong, a granddaughter of John Wilfong, 
who was a gallant soldier of the revolution and a presi¬ 
dential elector in 1836. Their children living are, Henry, 
a civil engineer in Texas; George, connected with the 
interior department of the national government; Charles 
M., an attorney at Newton, sergeant in Company A, 
First North Carolina volunteers, in recent war with Spain; 
Mary Locke, wife of Eugene Simons; Lizzie A., wife of 
Charles Ingram. 

Captain Charles McDonald, of Concord, a veteran of 
the gallant Twentieth regiment, was born in Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., in 1838, the son of John McDonald, a descend¬ 
ant of a Tyrone county patriot who lost his life in the 
Irish rebellion, under Robert Emmet, in 1798, and of 
Caroline Dungan, one of whose ancestors, a Baptist min¬ 
ister, and of a family of revolutionary patriots, removed 
from New England to Bucks county, Pa., about 1680. 
Captain McDonald was engaged in the manufacture of 
cotton at Concord previous to the secession of North 
Carolina, and he then entered heartily into the work of 
organizing troops, becoming lieutenant of the Cabarrus 
Guards, which was mustered in as Company A of the 
Twentieth regiment, North Carolina troops. Being 
appointed commissary of his regiment, he served in that 
capacity until the end of the war. Under Colonel Iver¬ 
son, in Samuel Garland’s brigade, the regiment won 
great distinction at the battle of Gaines’ Mill, storming 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


619 


and capturing a battery supported by Sykes’ brigade, 
United States regulars, and thus removing from the Con¬ 
federate line at a critical moment a destructive enfilading 
fire. In this famous charge the regiment lost, in ten 
minutes, 270 killed and wounded out of 750 engaged. 
The battle record of the Twentieth, thus gallantly begun, 
was sustained on every important field of the army of 
Northern Virginia. At the close of the war Captain 
McDonald was entitled to the rank of major, and by his 
faithful and devoted service had won the warmest regard 
of his command. He reached home again, April 24, 
1865. He represented Cabarrus county in the legisla¬ 
ture of 1889, and held the office of mayor of Concord in 
1894. He has been engaged in agricultural pursuits 
since 1876. 

Cadet William Hugh McDowell, a gallant young 
North Carolinian, who was a martyr to the cause of 
the Confederacy on the bloody field of New Market, in 
the Shenandoah valley, was born in Iredell county, 
December 22, 1845, the son of Robert Irwin and Rebecca 
(Brevard) McDowell. His paternal grandparents were 
Hugh McDowell, whose father was John McDowell, 
who was seriously wounded in the revolutionary army; 
and Margaret Irwin, whose father was Gen. Robert 
Irwin, distinguished as a signer of the Mecklenburg 
declaration and a general in the revolutionary army. 
The mother of Cadet McDowell, Rebecca Brevard, is still 
living at Charlotte. Robert Irwin McDowell was born 
in Mecklenburg county about 1814, was married to 
Rebecca Brevard, August 8, 1844, and died in 1885. His 
widow was born in Lincoln county, July 17, 1823, the 
daughter of John Franklin and Margaret (Conner) Bre¬ 
vard, who were both children of revolutionary soldiers, 
the father of the former, Alexander Brevard, having 
fought with gallantry on nine of the bloodiest fields of 
the war for independence. William Hugh McDowell, in 
his brief but heroic life, honorably supplemented the 
patriotic record of his ancestry. He was educated, first 
at the Hillsboro military academy, and thence was 
sent to the Virginia military institute, upon the recom¬ 
mendation of his mother’s relative and friend, Mrs. 
Stonewall Jackson. With the cadets of that institution 
he went out to battle in May, 1864, and after enduring 


620 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the fatigues of a rapid march, joined in the brilliant 
charge of his young comrades upon the Federal battery. 
They were successful in this historic battle of May 15th, 
but at a heavy cost in blood. Five of the cadets were 
killed and forty-five wounded, and among the dead was 
the body of gallant young McDowell. This young hero 
was brave, religious and lovable, a noble type of the 
thousands of promising lives that were given for country 
and conscience’ sake in the fearful four years’ struggle. 

Lieutenant Archibald McFadyen, pastor of the Presby¬ 
terian church at Clarkton, was born in Cumberland 
county, N. C., April 6, 1836, of Scottish descent. His 
family has long been resident in North Carolina, however, 
both his father, Archibald B. McFadyen, and his grand¬ 
father, Archibald, being natives of the State; his mother, 
also of Scotch origin, was the daughter of Neill McNeill. 
Mr. McFadyen, destined in youth to the ministry, was 
graduated at the university of North Carolina, June 5, 
186,?, and after teaching school for two years, he pursued 
a course of study in the Union theological school of Vir¬ 
ginia. After leaving college in June, 1862, he volunteered 
as a private in Capt. J. H. McNeill’s cavalry troop, Com¬ 
pany A, Fifth North Carolina cavalry, and began a gal¬ 
lant service in the Confederate army. In the winter of 
1862 he was promoted second lieutenant of the company. 
With Robertson’s cavalry brigade of Stuart’s cavalry 
corps, he participated in the campaign of 1863, fighting at 
Brandy Station and Gettysburg, and on the retreat from 
Pennsylvania he was taken prisoner, July 12, 1863, near 
Hagerstown, Md. As a prisoner of war he was sent to 
Johnson’s island, Lake Erie, and was held there until 
June 12, 1865, nearly two years of privation and suffer¬ 
ing. After his return home, he was engaged in teaching 
one year and then continued his studies at the theolog¬ 
ical seminary two years, after which he was licensed to 
preach, by the presbytery of Fayetteville, in 1868, and 
ordained in April, 1870, by the presbytery of Wilming¬ 
ton. He now holds the position of stated clerk in the 
latter presbytery, and is held in love and esteem by his 
congregation at Clarkton. By his marriage, June 18, 
1868, to Miriam E. Cramartie, he has seven children: 
Archibald H., Georgia F., Alice C., Paul R., Henry R., 
Miriam C., and Gertrude M. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


621 


H. L. McFadyen, M. D., now a prominent physician 
at Waynesville, was one of the boy soldiers of the North 
Carolina troops, the youngest of four brothers who were 
in the Confederate service. Archibald, Neill and John 
Alexander were the names of the elder sons, and the 
first named, a soldier of the Fifth North Carolina cavalry, 
being captured in Maryland in 1862, was held twenty-two 
months a prisoner at Johnson’s island. The parents of 
this family were A. B. and Christian (McNeill) McFad¬ 
yen, natives of Cumberland county, N. C. The paternal 
grandfather was a native of Jura, Scotland, and the Mc¬ 
Neills were from the Isle of Skye, in the same country. 
Dr. McFadyen was born upon the home farm in Cum¬ 
berland county in 1847, and left it first in his sixteenth 
year to enlist in the Confederate service as a private in 
the Thirty-sixth regiment, North Carolina troops. Dur¬ 
ing the siege of Fort Fisher he served as a courier for 
Colonel Lamb, the commandant, and escaping the dis¬ 
aster which befell most of the garrison, he was subse¬ 
quently with General Clingman in Johnston’s army and 
participated in the battles of Kinston and Bentonville. 
As he was walking across the battlefield at Kinston, after 
the first day’s engagement, he espied a wounded Fed¬ 
eral soldier, left for dead, stripped of nearly all his 
clothing and so weak from loss of blood that he could 
not speak, and gave him water and secured attention for 
him. One day before the surrender at Greensboro he 
took advantage of the suggestion of General Clingman 
and made his way through the Federal lines to his home. 
After several years of industry in the turpentine forests, 
young McFadyen began the study of medicine under Dr. 
W. A. Bizzell, of Elizabethtown, was graduated in 1876 
at the university of New York, and then practiced two 
years at Elizabethtown. Since then he has been in con¬ 
tinuous practice at Waynesville, where he is the senior 
physician in years of practice and holds high rank pro¬ 
fessionally and socially. He is a member of the State 
medical association, one of the organizers of the county 
society, and local surgeon for the Southern railroad. He 
is also a member of Pink Welch camp, U. C. V. He has 
seven children living by his marriage, in 1877, to Mary 
H. Rinaldi, whose grandfather was a captain of a steamer 
during the war of 1812, and whose father, Benjamin F. 
Rinaldi, entered the Confederate service as a captain, 


622 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


was a member of the staff of Gen. Stonewall Jackson, 
was Wounded at Chancellorsville, where Jackson fell, but 
recovering served to the end and died in 1887. 

John D. Mclver, a prominent businessman of Sanford, 
was born in Chatham county, November 4, 1826, son of 
John B. Mclver and hisjwife, Mary Dalrymple. His 
grandparents, John Mclver and Archibald Dalrymple, 
came to North Carolina from Scotland, Isle of Skye, in 
1775, and becoming earnest supporters of the patriot 
cause during the revolution, suffered from the destruc¬ 
tion of property by the British. Archibald Dalrymple 
served as a courier in the revolutionary war, and served 
two terms in the legislature. The subject of this notice was 
a gallant soldier of Company A, Fifth cavalry regiment, 
North Carolina troops, enlisting under Capt. John Mc- 
Keller in January, 1864, his service including much of the 
hard fighting under General Gordon, who was killed near 
Richmond, and later under Generals Barringer and Fitz- 
hugh Lee, with W. H. F. Lee’s cavalry division. He 
participated in many important battles and cavalry en¬ 
counters, including the campaign beginning with the 
Wilderness and Spottsylvania and ending at Petersburg. 
In a skirmish near Petersburg, September 29, 1864, while 
charging the Federal breastworks, he was severely 
wounded and was not fit for duty until the early spring 
of 1865. After the close of hostilities he returned to his 
native county and engaged in farming, his chosen occu¬ 
pation. In 1875 he embarked in business as a merchant 
at Sanford, and in this occupation, as well as farming, 
he has met with marked success. For three terms he has 
served his county efficiently as a member of the board of 
county commissioners. 

John McMillen Mclver, a successful and popular busi¬ 
ness man of Gulf, N. C., was born at Carbonton, Moore 
county, the son of Alexander Mclver and his good wife 
Ann Gordon. His father, Alexander, and his grand¬ 
father, Daniel Mclver, lived and died in Moore county, 
and illustrated in their lives the sturdy traits of their 
Scottish ancestry. He was educated at the Melville pre¬ 
paratory school and at the university at Chapel Hill, and 
after leaving school found his first occupation as a soldier 
of the Confederacy. Enlisting as a private in Company 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


623 


A, Fifth regiment, North Carolina cavalry, he served 
with that command throughout the war. He was in bat¬ 
tle at Whitehall, N. C., and was then transferred to the 
army of Northern Virginia, joined Stuart’s cavalry in 
time to witness the close of the fight at Gettysburg. 
Subsequently he was identified with the record of his 
regiment in Gordon’s brigade, later under Barringer, 
until the surrender at Appomattox. Then returning to 
his home in Moore county, he found employment for a 
time as schoolteacher until the times were more settled 
and other avenues of industry opened, when he embarked 
in business as a merchant, in which he has ever since 
found happiness and success. Coming out of the war 
with only an old horse as his capital, he has been favored 
by fortune and is one of the substantial citizens of the 
county. Throughout, both in war and peace, he has 
endeavored to do his duty. He was married in 1870 to 
Parmelia Harris, who died leaving no children; then to 
Mattie L. Morrison, who lived but ten years and left 
three children, Estelle, Evan G., and Mattie Lee; and in 
1890 he married Lois Anderson, of Davidson college. 

Lieutenant James McKee, M. D., of Raleigh, N. C., 
was born at that city, January 5, 1844. He was a stu¬ 
dent in the university of North Carolina, pursuing the 
studies of the sophomore year, when the crisis arrived in 
the history of the South, and in July, 1861, warmly 
espousing the cause of his State, he enlisted as a private 
in Company D, First North Carolina or Bethel regi¬ 
ment, with which he was connected until the com¬ 
mand was disbanded in October following. He was then 
commissioned second lieutenant, C. S. A., and detailed 
as a drill-master at Camp Holmes, near Raleigh, a con¬ 
script camp of instruction. In December, 1862, he took 
command of Company B of Mallett’s battalion, and par¬ 
ticipated in the battle of Kinston on the 14th of that 
month, from which he and 33 men of his command were the 
only ones who escaped without capture. Subsequently 
he was on duty at Goldsboro, at Camp Holmes, and at 
Morganton, until assigned to the command of Company 
C, Seventh North Carolina infantry, with which he served 
in the Petersburg trenches and participated in the severe 
battle of Jones’ Farm, before Petersburg, September 30, 
1864. Lieutenant McKee was paroled at Greensboro in 


624 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


April, 1865, ending a creditable military career at the age 
of twenty-one years. He subsequently studied medicine 
and was graduated in 1869 at Bellevue college, New 
York. Since then he has enjoyed a lucrative practice at 
Raleigh and occupies a high station as a citizen and pro¬ 
fessional man. For more than twenty years he has held 
the office of health officer of his city, and has rendered 
valuable service in the framing of laws for the promotion 
of health and the collection of vital statistics. 

William Dougald McMillan, M. D., city and county 
superintendent of Wilmington and New Hanover county, 
was born in that county in 1844, a descendant of an old 
patriotic colonial family. His maternal great-grand¬ 
father served with the rank of colonel on the staff of 
General Marion. He was educated in the Wilmington 
schools and the Bula military academy until he had 
reached the age of sixteen years, when he enlisted, in 
the spring of 1861, in the Topsail Rifles, with which he 
served for one year on the coast. In the spring of 1862 
he became a member of Rankin’s heavy artillery, but 
after a few months’ service provided a substitute for that 
command and volunteered as a private in the Fifty-first 
regiment of infantry. There he served in 1863 as ser¬ 
geant-major, and during 1864-65, while able for duty, as 
acting adjutant. His regiment was attached to Cling- 
man’s brigade and did gallant service in North Carolina 
and Virginia. He shared its fortunes in battle at Ply¬ 
mouth, Bermuda Hundred, Drewry’s bluff, Cold Harbor, 
Port Walthall Junction, in the trenches at Petersburg 
and the fighting on the Weldon railroad, and at Fort 
Harrison and the Crater. He was slightly wounded at 
Drewry’s Bluff, Second Cold Harbor, Bermuda Hundred 
and Petersburg, and seriously at Fort Harrison. He 
was last in battle in the defense of Fort Fisher and sur¬ 
rendered at High Point, N. C., in the spring of 1865. 
After the close of hostilities he took up the study of med¬ 
icine, and after graduation at the university of Maryland, 
entered upon the practice in New Hanover county, resid¬ 
ing for many years at Magnolia. In 1869 he was mar¬ 
ried to Margaret, daughter of William J. Anderson, of 
Fayetteville, and they have living seven children: Lizzie 
A., William D. Jr., MaryL., Joanna H.,Henry J., Eleanor 
and Sidney G. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


625 


Henry C. McQueen, a member of the banking house 
of Murchison & Co., Wilmington, had the honor, as 
a boy, to be one of the heroic defenders of Fort Fisher 
and to endure the hardships of a Northern prison camp. 
He was born at Lumberton in 1846, a son of Dr. Edmund 
McQueen, a leading physician of that section of the 
State, and was educated at Bingham’s school and the 
Hillsboro military academy. He entered the Confeder¬ 
ate service in the summer of 1864 as a private in Com¬ 
pany D, First North Carolina battalion, with which he 
served, with promotion to the rank of corporal, until 
January 15, 1865. On the latter date he was captured 
with the garrison of Fort Fisher, after surviving the ter¬ 
rible bombardment of three days and nights. In this 
fearful ordeal he received a severe wound in the leg. 
Carried north as a prisoner of war, he was "held at Point 
Lookout until paroled in June, 1865. He then returned 
to Lumberton and engaged in business there until 1866, 
when he removed to Wilmington and embarked in the 
cotton trade. In 1869 he became associated with the 
famous banking house of which he is now a member. 
He served as jmesident of the produce exchange for two 
terms. He has served several years as a member of the 
board of audit and finance of Wilmington, and is now its 
chairman. He is also president of the New Hanover 
transit company, and holds several other positions of 
trust and honor. He is a member of the First Presby¬ 
terian church of Wilmington, and chairman of its board 
of deacons. A brother of the foregoing, Edmund Mc¬ 
Queen, was in the quartermaster’s department, with the 
Thirty-first regiment throughout the war, and died in 
1876. In 1871 Mr. McQueen married Agnes Hall, daugh¬ 
ter of the late Avon E. Hall, a leading merchant of Ashe¬ 
ville, N. C. To this union there are two daughters, Sue 
Moore and Agnes. 

John J. Mackey, of Asheville, N. C., was born in 
McCowell county, that State, in 1845. There he was 
raised and educated. He volunteered in April, 1864, in 
the Sixth North Carolina cavalry as a private and served 
in that command until the surrender. He was in the 
following engagements, all in North Carolina: Kinston, 
Moses Fork, skirmish near Goldsboro and at Cobb’s Mill. 
After the war he farmed in McDowell county, N. C., for 


626 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


two years and then attended school two years. He was 
married in 1869 to Matilda Gill, who died in 1872, leav 
ing two children, both of whom are now deceased. He 
was again married, in 1879, to Susan E. Stokely and they 
had three children, all of whom died. His second wife 
died in 1890, and in 1891 he was married to Alberta B. 
Davis. Mr. Mackey, in 1888, was elected register of 
deeds of Buncombe county, N. C., and re-elected three 
times, serving eight years in all. In August, 1898, he 
was renominated for the same office. He has always 
enjoyed the esteem of the community in which he lives, 
and is one of the most respected citizens of Buncombe 
county. 

Colonel Duncan K. MacRae was born in Fayetteville, 
N. C., in 1819, and died in Brooklyn, N. Y., on Febru¬ 
ary 12, 1888. He was a lawyer of great reputation and a 
politician of consummate powers, but his mind and habit 
of thought were of that independent character which 
forbade the strict restraints of party lines, and conse¬ 
quently he never reached the highest places in official 
life. Coming on the stage of action at that period when 
the old Whig party was considered the party of conserva¬ 
tism and respectability par excellence, it was a charm 
to him to join the “Young Democracy” and cast in his 
lot with the brilliant young men of the day who drew 
their inspiration from the Calhoun school of State rights 
politics. He was a member of the house of commons 
from his native county, Cumberland, in 1842, and took a 
notable share in its action. He soon removed to Ral¬ 
eigh, the capital, and, taking up a large circuit, was 
brought in contact with the most distinguished lawyers 
of the State, and easily took high position. Tradition 
still teems with incident of his quickness at repartee and 
his powers of eloquence and marked success. Removing 
to Wilmington in 1851, he soon became an independent 
candidate for Congress upon the issue of the distribution 
of the proceeds of the sale of public lands; but, in the 
midst of his canvass, he was appointed consul to Paris 
by President Pierce and accepted the office. While occu¬ 
pying this position, he was secretary of the famous 
council of American foreign ministers, concerning the 
Cuban question. A residence of four years in the 
capital of France, amid the exciting scenes of the third 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


627 


empire, added greatly to his charm of manner and grace 
of diction. Returning to North Carolina at the close of 
Pierce’s administration, he resumed the practice of law 
at New Bern and soon entered upon a large and lucra¬ 
tive business, but the enticements of politics again 
brought him before the public as an independent candi¬ 
date for governor, his successful competitor being Hon. 
John W. Ellis, who entered upon the office in the begin¬ 
ning of the year 1861. One of his first appointments was 
that of Mr. MacRae to be colonel of the Fifth North 
Carolina State troops, which was formed at Halifax, 
N. C., and pushed rapidly to the front, part of the regi¬ 
ment reaching Manassas in time to take part in the bat¬ 
tle, being attached to Longstreet’s brigade. His regi¬ 
ment was engaged in all the outpost duty, and had fre¬ 
quent engagements with the enemy in front of Fairfax 
Court House, during the first winter of the war, and was 
among the earliest arrivals at the peninsula on the 
change of front to meet McClellan’s advance at York- 
town, and was in the rear on the retreat from that point. 
As part of Early’s brigade, his regiment earned from 
Hancock the name of Immortal. Concerning Colonel 
MacRae, we quote from a speech of Governor Stedman, 
of North Carolina: “As a soldier, his name stands pre¬ 
eminent among the heroes who have illustrated the valor 
of our Southern land. At Williamsburg, at the head of 
the Fifth North Carolina regiment, he immortalized him¬ 
self and State. A writer for the London Times, and a 
soldier of distinction himself, who was present at that 
bloody combat as a staff officer to McClellan, names, as 
the most illustrious feats of arms in modern warfare, the 
charge of the Old Guard at Waterloo, the charge of the 
Light Brigade at Balaklava, and the charge of MacRae’s 
North Carolina regiment at Williamsburg.’’ He bore, 
with his regiment, a prominent part in all the actions of 
the army of Northern Virginia, through the Seven Days’ 
battles around Richmond, and up to and including Boons- 
boro and Sharpsburg. At this last battle he received 
serious injuries, which, added to failing health, for he 
was always of feeble physical frame, compelled his retire¬ 
ment from active service in the army. On his return to 
North Carolina, he was sent to Europe by Governor 
Vance on an important mission, which, being finished, 
he began the publication of “The Confederate,” an 


628 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


administration newspaper in North Carolina, which was 
the recognized organ of the Confederate government in 
this State. And in this employment he remained until 
the entry of Sherman’s army into Raleigh, on which 
occurrence he left the city with the army of General 
Johnston. On account of the prejudice of the local lead¬ 
ers who came into place in North Carolina in the days 
of military rule, he was not permitted to resume his resi¬ 
dence in Raleigh, and removed to Memphis, where he at 
once took front rank at the bar, which rank he held for 
several years, his practice carrying him to the highest 
court in the land. But failing health of self and family 
took him to Chicago, where he remained but a short 
time, returning to North Carolina in 1880 and entering 
upon a large and lucrative practice at the bar in Wilming¬ 
ton. From this time until death put its hand upon him, 
he kept his place in the front, where it had ever been. 
When he turned his face to the wall and the light of 
life went out, North Carolina lost one of the most bril¬ 
liant men who ever lived within her borders. Years will 
pass before the memory of his sublime eloquence and his 
keen wit shall be forgotten. And among the glories of 
his native State will be ever the reputation of his old 
regiment, the Fifth North Carolina. 

Major James Cameron MacRae, a well-known lawyer, 
who has held important positions in the judiciary of the 
State, was born at Fayetteville in 1838, the son of John 
MacRae, who was for many years the postmaster at that 
place. In his youth he taught school and read law, and 
gained admittance to the practice in 1859 and i860, but 
had hardly launched himself in a professional career 
when the State called her patriotic sons to war. He 
enlisted at Fayetteville in April, 1861, in Company H of 
the First North Carolina regiment, which was soon 
ordered to Virginia and speedily attained distinction in 
the battle of Big Bethel, in which Private MacRae took 
part. In July, 1861, he was appointed second lieutenant 
of Company D, Fifth North Carolina infantry, and, on 
joining the regiment, just after the battle of First Manas¬ 
sas, was made adjutant. With this command he took part 
in the defense of Yorktown and the battle of Williams¬ 
burg. Before the battle of Seven Pines he was promoted 
to captain of staff, and, with the duties of assistant adju- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 629 

tant-general, was assigned to the department of North 
Carolina, with headquarters at Raleigh. In 1863 he was 
ordered to western North Carolina, in command of a 
mixed battalion of infantry, cavalry and artillery, with 
the rank of major. He made his headquarters at Mor- 
ganton and Asheville and continued in this duty until 
assigned to the staff of Gen. L. S. Baker, in command 
of the eastern district of North Carolina and southern 
Virginia. Here he performed the duties of assistant 
adjutant-general until the end of hostilities, when he was 
surrendered with Baker’s command in Wake county. 
During his service in North Carolina he was captured in 
1862, but was exchanged a few weeks later; took part in 
the last fighting at Plymouth; served in Georgia, harass¬ 
ing Sherman’s advance to Savannah, and finally was in 
battle at Kinston. With the return of peace he again took 
up his law practice at Fayetteville, where he has since 
made his home. In 1865 he was appointed clerk and 
master in equity for Cumberland county, and in 1874-75 
he represented his county in the legislature, serving as 
chairman of the committee on internal improvements and 
second on the judiciary committee. His high standing 
as a lawyer was recognized in 1882, by his appointment 
by Governor Jarvis to fill the vacancy in the superior 
court, due to the resignation of Judge Risdon T. Ben¬ 
nett. Soon afterward he was elected to the same office 
for a term of eight years. In 1892 he was appointed 
by Governor Holt, associate justice of the supreme court 
of the State, to succeed Judge Joseph Davis, deceased, a 
position which he filled with great credit during the un- 
expired term of two years. He then returned to his 
practice as an attorney, maintaining a partnership with 
his son, Samuel H. MacRae, at Fayetteville, and another 
with Capt. W. H. Day, at Raleigh. 

Captain Walter G. MacRae, a gallant North Carolina 
soldier, now residing at Wilmington, was born at that 
city, January 27, 1841. He was educated in New England, 
entering a private school in Boston in 1856, graduating 
at the English high school at that city in 1860, receiving 
the Franklin medal, and then studying law at the Har¬ 
vard law school until the outbreak of hostilities in 1861, 
when he returned home to fight for his State. Joining the 
Eighteenth North Carolina, he accompanied it to South 


630 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Carolina, and a few months later was transferred to the 
heavy artillery and stationed at Fort Fisher. Subse¬ 
quently he became a member of McNeill’s Partisan Rang¬ 
ers, and, after an adventurous career of thirteen months 
with that command, joined Company C of the Seventh 
North Carolina infantry, with a commission as lieutenant 
from Governor Ellis. From that time he was in com¬ 
mand of his company, with promotion to captain after 
the battle of Gettysburg. Among the engagements in 
which he participated were the encounters at Thomp¬ 
son’s bridge on the Neuse river, the skirmish near Pol- 
locksville, N. C., and the battle of Chancellorsville, 
where he was slightly wounded in the right thigh. After¬ 
ward he was in command of three companies of skirmish¬ 
ers during the fighting on the Rappahannock river. At 
Gettysburg he was in battle three days, and, on the 
evening of the third day, received a severe wound in the 
left thigh. While being carried to Richmond he was 
sick three weeks with fever at Newton, Va., and, on 
reaching the Confederate capital, he was granted a fur¬ 
lough for forty days. In May, 1864, he participated in 
the death grapple of the armies in the Wilderness, and 
had the misfortune to be captured. He was held at Fort 
Delaware, and in the following August was one of the 
600 officers placed under fire at Morris island, thence 
being returned to Fort Delaware and held until the close 
of hostilities. When home again at Wilmington, he held 
for a time the position of general freight agent of the 
Atlantic Coast Line railroad, and later was superintend¬ 
ent for eight years of the first cotton print mill estab¬ 
lished in the South. Since then he has had a very suc¬ 
cessful career in the profession of civil engineering. 

John Newland Maffitt was born at sea February 22, 
1819, the son of a famous Methodist preacher of the same 
name who was at that time emigrating with his family to 
the United States from Ireland, the land of his nativity. 
Young Maffitt entered the United States navy as a mid¬ 
shipman February 25, 1832, was promoted lieutenant in 
1848, and resigned May 2, 1861. Entering the service of 
the Confederate States, he took a cargo of cotton to Eng¬ 
land early in 1862, and while there received instructions 
to take command of the Oreto, constructed at Liverpool, 
the first of the Confederate cruisers built in England. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


631 


He met the vessel at Nassau, where she was detained by 
a court of admiralty, but finally released. He then took 
the ship to Green Cay, 60 miles distant, where she received 
her armament, and was christened the Florida. Before 
leaving this port yellow fever broke out in the crew, and 
the Florida was run into Cardenas, Cuba, where Captain 
Maffitt was also stricken with the disease. Before he 
had fully recovered he found it necessary to make a 
friendly port, and achieved the remarkable feat of running 
the blockade at Mobile, September 4, 1862, with a sick 
and disabled crew, escaping serious injury though two 
hours under fire. After completing the armament of the 
vessel, he again successfully ran the blockade, January 15, 
1863, though preparation had been made for his capture. 
The Florida began her captures of Federal shipping in 
the Gulf and cruised between New York and the equa¬ 
tor, taking in all about fifty-five prizes, including one 
valued at $1,500,000. In August, 1863, the cruiser 
arrived at Brest, France, where she was refitted, and 
Captain Maffitt, on account of broken health, was relieved 
from command. He subsequently commanded the 
Albemarle a short time, and the blockade-runner Owl. 
His last years were spent at Wilmington, N. C., where 
he died May 15, 1886. 

William C. Mallison, a prominent merchant of Wash¬ 
ington, N. C., was born in Beaufort county in 1843, and, 
when about seventeen years of age, in April, 1861, entered 
the military service of the State as a private in the Wash¬ 
ington Grays, a fine volunteer company, which included 
the flower of the young men of the county. Going with his 
comrades to Portsmouth, N. C., he was left there as 
camp guard when the company was ordered to Hatteras, 
and thus was permitted to escape capture in August, 
1861. He then joined the company of Capt. Henry Hard¬ 
ing, with which he participated in the battle of New Bern 
in March, 1862. Soon afterward he was transferred to 
his old company, in the Tenth regiment, heavy artillery, 
and served with that command until the close of the war, 
stationed mainly below Wilmington and at Weldon, and 
was surrendered near Wilson, N. C. Since the return 
of peace he has been a citizen of Washington, and has 
been quite successful in business as a hardware merchant 
during the past thirty years. By his marriage, in 1871, 
to Mary Bishop, he has eight children living. 


632 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


William S. Mallory, of Charlotte, was born in Norfolk, 
Va., May 18, 1845, son of William S. Mallory, a former 
merchant of that city, and great-grandson of Col. Fran¬ 
cis Mallory, who gave his life in the revolutionary war. 
He was educated at the Norfolk military academy and 
when the war broke out, was residing with his grand¬ 
mother in Perquimans county. He was anxious to enlist, 
and not only his people opposed his going, but the officer 
to whom he presented himself refused to accept him on 
account of youth and lack of inches as well as years. 
But determined to enter the service, he stowed himself 
away in the boat which took the company to the field, 
and thus managed to be permitted to accompany them 
and finally to enlist. His company was F of the Twenty- 
seventh North Carolina regiment, Cooke’s brigade, and 
gave good account of itself during the four years’ strug¬ 
gle. He served as private and orderly-sergeant to the 
end, taking part in the battles of New Bern, Gaines’ Mill, 
Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg, Bristoe Station, the Wilderness, South 
Anna Bridge, Second Cold Harbor, Deep Bottom, Yellow 
Tavern, Reams’ Station, the Crater, Hatcher’s Run, and 
all of the Petersburg fights. He was seriously wounded 
and captured at Bristoe Station, and imprisoned at Point 
Lookout until May, 1864, but was finally exchanged and 
was in the battle of the Wilderness three days after rejoin¬ 
ing his command. He was detailed to hunt deserters in 
western North Carolina in 1865, and surrendered with 
Johnston at Greensboro, N. C. Until 1880 he was a 
merchant and cotton buyer at Tarboro, and then removed 
to Charlotte, where he has served nine years as secretary 
and treasurer of the Alpha cotton mills, and two years in 
the same capacity with the Louise cotton mills. August 
6, 1867, he was married to Pamela Shepperd, of Salem, 
a sister of the wife of Maj.-Gen. William Dorsey Pender. 
They have three children. 

Charles Daniel Malone, of Louisburg, a veteran of the 
First North Carolina cavalry, well remembered by his 
comrades by the camp name of “Little C. D.,’’ was born 
in Warren county, July 29, 1845. He was but a school¬ 
boy at the beginning of the great war, a student at the 
Louisburg academy, but he was anxious to enlist for the 
defense of his State. In consideration of his youth, how¬ 
ever, he was held back through the influence of his father, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


633 


until he was seventeen years old, when he became en¬ 
rolled as a private in Company E of the First cavalry, 
then at Orange Court House, in Gen. Wade Hampton’s 
brigade. The career of this famous regiment of troopers 
has been described in previous pages, and of Private 
Malone it may be truthfully said that he was identified 
with it from the time of his enlistment to the close of the 
war. Among the famous encounters in which he took 
part were those of Culpeper Court House, Brandy Sta¬ 
tion, Second Manassas, Jack’s shop, Hanover Junction, 
Reams’ Station, Stony Creek and numerous fights around 
Richmond. He remained steadfastly a private, declin¬ 
ing election to rank, but was frequently detailed for 
special service, scouting and the like, acted as courier 
for both Generals Hampton and Stuart, and was at times 
in command of his company. On one occasion, he and 
the bugler of the regiment, on account of a misunder¬ 
standing of orders, were the only ones who followed the 
colonel in a charge. He was with Stuart when his com¬ 
mand was entirely surrounded by the enemy, the occasion 
when his colonel, Thomas Ruffin, was killed, and was one 
of the 40 men with General Hampton who kept the 
enemy out of Richmond at the time of Kilpatrick’s and 
Dahlgren’s raid. At Hatcher’s run he was wounded in 
the right hand, in the act of firing. Since the war Mr. 
Malone has been engaged in mercantile enterprises and 
in teaching, has been successful in these, and enjoys the 
esteem and confidence of the community. He was mar¬ 
ried, in 1869, to Bessie, daughter of Dr. Noah Joyner, of 
Pitt county. She died in 1895, leaving seven children; 
Vernon Lee, Charles Noah, Emily Williams, Ellis, Mary 
Ethel, Robert Joyner and Edmund Lucien. Dr. James 
E. Malone, a younger brother of the foregoing, is nota¬ 
ble among the people of his county for devotion to the 
sacred memories of the great struggle, and has earned 
the gratitude of the Confederate survivors by the un¬ 
stinted manner in which he has given time, talent and 
resources to their cause. He is now engaged in promot¬ 
ing his cherished project—a fine monument at Louisburg 
in memory of the Confederate dead. He was born in 
DeSoto county, Miss., in 1851, and was educated for the 
medical profession at Bellevue college, New York. His 
wife, Anna Richmond Fuller, is a sister of the North 
Carolina poet, Edwin W. Fuller, who married a sister 
of Dr. Malone and Charles D. Malone. 


634 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major Basil C. Manly, a noted artillery officer of the 
North Carolina troops, was born at Raleigh, May 9, 1839, 
son of Charles Manly, governor of the State in 1849. He 
was educated at Lovejoy’s academy, St. James, Md., and 
Chapel Hill, and in law at the school of Chief Justice 
Pearson. Soon after he began his practice at Raleigh 
as an attorney, the crisis of 1861 arrived and he entered 
the service as lieutenant of the Ellis light artillery, 
afterward famous as Manly’s battery. This company 
was composed of some of the most patriotic and enthusi¬ 
astic young men of that period, and his leadership among 
them was demonstrated by his promotion to captain, May 
16, 1861, when the first commander, Stephen D. Ramseur, 
became colonel of the Forty-ninth regiment. The bat¬ 
tery was assigned to the Tenth regiment as Company A, 
left for Virginia August 2, 1861, and remained at Smith- 
field until March 2d, following, when it was ordered to the 
peninsula. In the Yorktown campaign he first fired on the 
enemy at Dam No. 1, and was next engaged at Williams¬ 
burg, where, with three guns, the gunners in charge being 
Corporals Dunn, Brooks and Robertson, a battery of 
the enemy was captured. His battery was in action at 
Seven Pines, Savage Station and White Oak swamp, 
under fire at Malvern hill, and subsequently was attached 
to Semmes’ brigade, McLaws’ division, Longstreet’s 
corps. It rendered valuable service at Boonsboro and 
Sharpsburg; at Fredericksburg was held in reserve in 
the rear of Marye’s heights, prevented from opening fire 
by the death of the courier who was sent with orders; 
and at Chancellorsville, after having been engaged two 
days on the right, was sent back to meet Sedgwick’s 
corps. The latter’s retreat across the river was greatly 
harassed by Manly, whose fire twice broke the Federal 
pontoon bridge. On the second day of Gettysburg he 
displayed military genius in the placing of his battery, 
on the third day took an active part in the great artillery 
duel, and, during the retreat to Virginia, had a sharp 
engagement at Funkstown, July 10, 1863, in which the 
battery sustained severe loss. Throughout the campaign 
of 1864, in the battles of the Wilderness and Cold Har¬ 
bor, and other frequent and arduous artillery duty, he 
served as captain, and about January 1, 1865, was pro¬ 
moted major and assigned to duty as chief of artillery of 
Hoke’s division. He fought his last battle at Benton- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


635 


ville, and was paroled with Johnston. After the war he 
married Lucy Haywood, who, with two sons, survives 
him. As a citizen of Raleigh, he was a great favorite, 
and was seven times elected mayor, dying while an in¬ 
cumbent of that office, May 16, 1882. He was a born 
soldier, a natural leader, and in emergency none was 
more cool and self-possessed. 

Captain Matthias Manly, a leading citizen of New Bern 
and a veteran of the Second regiment, North Carolina 
troops, was born at that city in 1845. In April, 1861, 
being about sixteen years of age, having received a mil¬ 
itary training at the Hillsboro military academy under 
Colonel Tew, he entered the service of the State and was 
detailed as a drill-master at Fort Macon until June, when 
he enlisted in Company D of the Second regiment, 
organized and commanded by his former academic prin¬ 
cipal. At the organization he was appointed junior 
second lieutenant, and afterward was promoted captain. 
With his gallant regiment he entered the army of North¬ 
ern Virginia, and during the campaign before Richmond, 
participated in the battles of Mechanicsville, Cold Har¬ 
bor and Malvern Hill, where he was slightly wounded in 
the side. He was in the battle of Fredericksburg, De¬ 
cember, 1862, and on the 3d of May following, took part 
in storming the Federal breastworks and gaining the 
glorious victory of Chancellorsville. But here, in the 
high tide of victory, he was shot in the left arm and in 
the body, and being captured by the enemy, was sent to 
the Old Capitol prison. It was not his fortune to again 
stand in battle line with his comrades in gray, for, in 
September following, he was transferred to Johnson’s 
island, Lake Erie, and was there detained, suffering the 
miseries of prison life and an inclement climate until 
March, 1865. Since the close of hostilities he has been 
engaged in the cotton trade, first at Baltimore, from 1867 
to 1878, and since then at New Bern. He has served two 
terms as mayor of the city, and as postmaster two terms 
by appointment of President Cleveland. In 1891 he rep¬ 
resented New Bern at the celebration of the seventh 
centennial of Berne, Switzerland. 

John Manning was born on the 30th day of July, 1830, 
in the ancient capital of the colony of North Carolina, 


636 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Edenton. He was taught at a school of much local fame, 
the historic Edenton academy, then under the charge of 
Charles Disbrow. Thence he was transferred to the 
Norfolk military academy. In his senior year he was 
appointed to the honorable position of captaincy of ca¬ 
dets. He left Norfolk and entered the sophomore class 
in the university of North Carolina. He was a faithful 
student, graduating with high honor and showing the 
bent of his mind by delivering an oration on “The Influ¬ 
ence of Religion on Law. ” After leaving the univer¬ 
sity, young Manning availed himself of his father’s offer 
to sail w r ith him, as captain’s clerk, along the eastern 
coast of South America, visiting, among others, the great 
cities of Rio Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Ayres. 
Orders being received for the Bainbridge to proceed to 
the coast of Africa, not liking a naval life, he resigned 
his position and returned home on the national vessel, 
St. Louis. He resolved to become a lawyer, and after 
studying for his profession in the quiet village of Pitts- 
boro, under a cousin of his, an eminent lawyer, John H. 
Haughton, he became a partner in his large practice. 
On the 5th of June, 1856, he had the good fortune to 
marry a lady of Pittsboro, in every way suited to him, 
in talents and character, in religious proclivities, in social 
position, in intellect and taste, Miss Louisa J., daughter 
of Dr. Isaac Hall, a physician of Pittsboro, son of the 
more eminent lawyer and judge, John Hall, of Warren- 
ton, of the supreme court of North Carolina. Their 
union has been most happy. They have raised eight 
children, all showing the outcome of their training—a 
never failing, loving and wise management at home. 
The young, hardworked lawyer, in politics an “old-line 
Whig, ’ ’ soon won the hearts of the people of Chatham 
and was often solicited to be a candidate for a seat in the 
general assembly. This he firmly declined, although 
in private, and sometimes on the stump, he used his in¬ 
fluence to avert war and preserve the Union. When war 
actually came, he volunteered among the first troops 
raised by the State, was soon made first lieutenant in his 
company, and shortly afterward adjutant of his regiment, 
the Fifteenth volunteers. His experience as boy-cap¬ 
tain of the Norfolk academy cadets, made him a valuable 
officer. His military career was suddenly cut short by 
receiving from Judge Asa Biggs, of the Confederate 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


637 


States district court, the office of receiver under the 
sequestration act, which position he held until the end of 
the war, collecting, and promptly accounting for, hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of dollars. About the same time that 
he entered the military service as a volunteer, he was 
elected to the secession convention of 1861, and although 
he had been an ardent Union man, he joined with Badger, 
Graham, Gilmer and other older members of his party, 
in sustaining the ordinance of revolution offered by Mr. 
Badger. He likewise voted for the ordinance offered by 
Chief Justice Ruffin, which proposed to dissolve the 
bands connecting North Carolina with the Union without 
claiming to repeal the act of acceptance of the Federal 
Constitution, adopted in 1789. When both these propo¬ 
sitions were negatived, he joined all the other members 
in voting for the Burton Craige ordinance of secession. 
He deprecated the haste of the convention in adopting 
the provisional and permanent constitution of the Con¬ 
federate States, and ineffectually endeavored to have 
them submitted to the people. All measures for a vig¬ 
orous prosecution of the war he actively sustained. After 
the war he devoted himself assiduously to repairing his 
shattered fortune. On the death, in 1870, of the mem¬ 
ber of Congress from his district (ex-Judge Robert Gil¬ 
liam), he was nominated as his successor, and with a 
former majority of over 1,000 against him, was elected 
over Joseph W. Holden by over 350 votes. While in 
Congress he vigorously assailed all measures especially 
directed against the Southern States. He made a strong 
speech against the old force bill, which set aside safe¬ 
guards of liberty under the plea of suppression of the 
Ku Klux Klan. This speech was circulated by his party 
throughout the Northern and Western States as a cam¬ 
paign document. Having no taste for the manipulation 
of primaries, he was not nominated by the ensuing dis¬ 
trict convention. The next public position held by Dr. 
Manning was a membership in the constitutional con¬ 
vention of 1875. Here he labored successfully to correct 
many crude and unsuitable provisions of the Constitu¬ 
tion of 1868. Having a deep love for the university, his 
alma mater, then in straits, he consented to be a candi¬ 
date for a seat in the general assembly of 1881, with 
the avowed object to aid in upbuilding it. At the re¬ 
quest of President Battle, he introduced a bill for grant- 


638 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ing the first annuity ever received from the State, $5,000. 
By the active labor and eloquent speeches of himself and 
others, the bill became a law. At the same session he 
was, with Hon. William T. Dortch and Hon. John S. 
Henderson, selected by the general assembly to codify 
the laws. The result is the code of North Carolina, pro¬ 
mulgated by the general assembly of 1883. About this 
time he was tendered a position on the superior court 
bench, but declined the offer. He likewise declined the 
office of secretary of state. In 1881, not only without 
his solicitation, but without his knowledge, the board of 
trustees of the university, by a unanimous vote, elected 
him to fill the vacancy in the professorship of law, caused 
by the death of ex-Judge William H. Battle, in 1879. 
Beginning with a class of seven, he had under his instruc¬ 
tion in 1897-98, eighty*seven students. The reputation 
of the school for thoroughness has spread to distant 
States. The hold possessed by Dr. Manning on the 
hearts of his students is boundless. They admire and 
respect his learning and skill in instruction, they rever¬ 
ence his piety and unbending integrity, and repay his 
kindly interest in their welfare with the sincerest grati¬ 
tude and affection. Dr. Manning has from boyhood 
been a faithful follower of Christ and not ashamed to 
avow it. He has been an active member of the church 
of his forefathers, the Protestant Episcopal, holding 
nearly all its offices which can be conferred on a layman, 
including a seat in its general convention. 

Captain Eugene Stuart Martin, of Wilmington, distin¬ 
guished in the artillery service of the North Carolina 
troops, was born at Wilmington, August, 1840, the son 
of Alfred Martin, a prominent merchant of that city. 
After his graduation at the university of North Carolina, 
in i860, he took employment in the business house of 
Rankin & Martin, of which his father was a member, and 
thence enlisted, April 15, 1861, as second sergeant of the 
Wilmington Rifle Guards, which was assigned as Company 
I, to the Eighteenth North Carolina infantry. He served 
with this regiment until the term of enlistment expired, 
in April, 1862, and in May following was commissioned 
first lieutenant of artillery and assigned to Company A, 
First North Carolina battalion of artillery. In. Septem¬ 
ber, 1863, he was detailed as engineer officer for the con- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


639 


struction of fortifications on Smith’s island at the mouth 
of Cape Fear river, and upon the completion of this work 
was ordered to Fort Caswell as chief of artillery and 
ordnance officer of that fort, Fort Campbell and others, 
constituting the defenses of Oak island. He continued 
in this duty, with promotion to the rank of captain, until 
January 17, 1865, when, in obedience to orders, he blew 
up the works and retired with the Confederate forces to 
Fort Anderson, on the west bank of Cape Fear river. 
Here, under General Bragg, he was chief of ordnance 
and artillery for that fort and the other defenses on the 
west bank of the river until February 19, 1865, when, 
with his artillery, he accompanied General Hagood’s 
command to Town Creek, where he took part in the 
battle of February 19th and 20th, with Schofield’s corps. 
Upon the evacuation of Wilmington, February 22d, he 
commanded the artillery defending the pontoon bridge 
over the northeast branch of the river, and checked the 
enemy by a vigorous artillery fire. Joining in the retreat 
of the forces under General Bragg to Rockfish, he left, 
about March 8th, for Kinston, where he served in battle 
on the staff of Gen. R. F. Hoke as ordnance officer. 
During the battle of Bentonville, March 19, 20 and 21, 
1865, he served as chief of ordnance and artillery tem¬ 
porarily under the orders of General Hardee; was twice 
wounded, one wound in the ankle being quite severe; and 
was recommended for promotion to colonel for gallant 
conduct. After the army fell back to Smithfield, he 
was ordered by Gen. J. E. Johnston to go to Tarboro and 
organize an ordnance department and train, it appearing 
at that time that General Johnston contemplated a move¬ 
ment by Weldon against the rear of Grant’s army. But 
Captain Martin found he could not proceed beyond Wel¬ 
don, and was then ordered to evacuate that place and 
forward the troops and supplies to Raleigh. This duty 
performed, he reported to General Johnston at Raleigh, 
and was detailed to go out on the line of the Carolina 
Central railroad and ascertain if the enemy were utiliz¬ 
ing that road and what troops were being transferred. 
While he was yet occupied with this service, the army was 
surrendered, and he then gave himself up at Wilming¬ 
ton to Gen. J. R. Hawley, in command of the Federal 
forces. He remained a prisoner of war at his native city 
until May 18, 1865. In addition to the wounds received 


640 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


at Kinston, Captain Martin was injured by the concussion 
of an exploding shell at Fort Anderson, the hearing of 
his left ear being destroyed. In September, 1873, he 
entered upon the study of law, and being admitted to 
the bar in 1874, has ever since practiced his profession 
with much success. 

Lieutenant James Bryan Martin, attorney at Windsor, 
N. C., is a native of Louisiana, born in Assumption parish, 
August 25, 1844, and was educated at Baton Rouge. 
When the war broke out he enlisted for the Confederate 
service as a private in Company K, Eighth Louisiana 
infantry. He served with this regiment in the army of 
Northern Virginia about six months, and was then ap¬ 
pointed sergeant-major of the Twenty-sixth Louisiana 
infantry. A year later he was promoted to lieutenant 
of Company C of the same regiment, and subsequently 
was given command of Company A, Weatherby’s battal¬ 
ion, Louisiana sharpshooters. He also served for some 
time as ordnance officer and aide-de-camp on the staff of 
Brig.-Gen. Allen Thomas, who has since filled the office 
of minister to Venezuela for the United States. Lieu¬ 
tenant Martin participated in the defense of Vicksburg in 
1863-64, fought at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou against 
Sherman, and was on the lines about Vicksburg until the 
surrender to Grant, when he was paroled. His exchange 
did not occur until about a year later. Upon the close of 
hostilities he lived in New Orleans, in 1868 removed 
to Norfolk, and in 1874 to Bertie county, N. C., and 
engaged in the practice of law at Windsor. He is promi¬ 
nent in his profession and enjoys in a marked degree 
the confidence of his community. For several years he 
served as chairman of the inferior court of Bertie county, 
and has acted as a member of the Democratic State execu¬ 
tive committee, with notable influence in the councils 
of his party. He is faithful to the memory of the Confed¬ 
eracy and maintains a membership in Pickett-Buchanan 
camp, United Confederate Veterans, at Norfolk. 

Lieutenant Thomas Duncan Martin, M. D., a well- 
known citizen of Raleigh, N. C., was born at Elizabeth 
City in 1815, and was educated at Hertford academy, 
Edenton academy, and at Utica, N. Y. Determining to 
embrace the medical profession, he studied to that end in 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 641 

1838 and 1839, and then was engaged in the practice in his 
native county and in Hyde county, until the beginning of 
hostilities in 1861. In June of the latter year he enlisted 
in Company F of the Twenty-seventh North Carolina 
infantry, and was elected first lieutenant. But, after about 
a month’s service in this capacity, the demand for skilled 
medical officers in the army led to his being detailed to the 
hospital at New Bern, where he practically had charge 
until February, 1862. He then removed the patients 
under his care to Goldsboro, and remained in the hospital 
there until the following May, when his health broke down, 
and, his period of enlistment having expired, he was 
compelled to return to his home. He was a resident of 
Hillsboro until the close of the war, when he removed to 
Raleigh and engaged in the cotton trade, in which he 
was quite successful. In 1874 he retired from business 
life. Dr. Martin was married, May 23, 1849, at Hert¬ 
ford, N. C., to Henrietta Perkins, a descendant of Sir 
John Archdale, the Quaker governor of North Carolina. 

Colonel William Joseph Martin, of the Eleventh regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina State troops, was born in Rich¬ 
mond, Va., December 11, 1830. He was the son of 
Edward Fitzgerald Martin, who came from Ireland to 
America in early manhood, had a successful career as a 
physician, and, by his marriage to Frances Anne Foster, 
had several children, of whom Colonel Martin was the 
eldest. A brother of Edward who accompanied him to 
America, John Martin, a distinguished artist, was the 
painter of the portrait of Chief-Justice Marshall, which 
hangs in the old Confederate capitol at Richmond. Four 
of his sons became clergymen in the Presbyterian church. 
Colonel Martin was educated at the university of Vir¬ 
ginia, where he gave special attention to the study of 
chemistry, with such success that before his graduation 
he was called to the chair of natural science at Wash¬ 
ington college, Pa. In 1858 he was elected pro¬ 
fessor of chemistry at the university of North Carolina, 
then at the zenith of her ante-bellum prosperity. The 
young professor remained at Chapel Hill until North 
Carolina had allied her fortunes with the new Confeder¬ 
acy, when he gave himself unreservedly to the service 
of the State and organized a company of volunteers in 
Orange county. He was assigned to the Twenty-eighth 


642 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


regiment, under General Lane, and served in the eastern 
part of the State several months, until elected lieutenant- 
colonel of the Eleventh regiment, which had been organ¬ 
ized from the men of the famous Bethel regiment. He 
was with his regiment in North Carolina and on the 
Blackwater river in Virginia, until 1863, when the regi¬ 
ment was assigned to Pettigrew’s brigade, A. P. Hill’s 
corps, army of Northern Virginia. Colonel Martin soon 
became distinguished as a gallant leader of brave men, 
on the bloody fields of Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor 
and Petersburg. After Gettysburg he was in command 
of his regiment, with promotion to colonel. He was four 
times wounded, slightly at Spottsylvania and Reams’ 
Station, and very severely at Bristoe Station and Peters¬ 
burg. A short time before his surrender, at Appomat¬ 
tox, his commission as brigadier-general had been pre¬ 
pared, but the rush of disaster which ensued gave him 
no opportunity to enjoy that well-deserved promotion. 
Returning to the State university, he endeavored to 
rebuild its shattered fortunes for two years, and then 
founded the Columbian high school at Columbia, Tenn., 
which he conducted very successfully for three years, after¬ 
ward accepting the professorship of chemistry at David¬ 
son college, where he greatly enlarged the scope and 
efficiency of his department and became the leading spirit 
in the faculty. During the disability of President Mc¬ 
Kinnon, in 1887, he served as acting president, and was 
urged to accept the permanent presidency, but declined 
and brought about the election of President Shearer, 
under whom he accepted the position of vice-president, 
also discharging the duties of bursar. The impairment 
of his health, which prevented him becoming president 
of the college, gradually increased and resulted in his 
death, March 23, 1896. He left surviving him his second 
wife, Letitia C. Costin, of Wilmington, and four children: 
Miles Costin, William Joseph, Jr., Mary T., and Lucy 
Battle Martin. William Joseph, Jr., who succeeded his 
father in 1896 as professor of chemistry in Davidson 
college, was born at Columbia, Tenn., February 10, 1868; 
was graduated at Davidson college in 1888, and at the 
medical department, university of Virginia, in 1890; 
was instructor in chemistry in Davidson college, 1890-91• 
studied at Johns Hopkins university, 1891-92; took the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


643 


master’s degree at Davidson in 1893 and the degree of 
Ph. D. at the university of Virginia in 1895; also from 
1892 to 1896 served as instructor in chemistry at the latter 
institution. He is a fellow of the Chemical society of 
London and of the American chemical society. 

Lieutenant Cave Johnson Matthews, since 1874 a resi¬ 
dent of Reidsville, N. C., rendered his Confederate mil¬ 
itary service with the Tennessee troops, in which State 
he was born, at Springfield, January 19, 1839. He 
enlisted in April, 1861, in Company C of the Fourteenth 
Tennessee infantry, was elected second lieutenant at the 
reorganization in the spring of 1862, and after the battle 
of Second Manassas was promoted first lieutenant for gal¬ 
lantry on that field. His first campaigning was with 
Robert E. Lee in northwestern Virginia. On January 
1, 1862, he joined Jackson at Winchester and participated 
in the Romney campaign, after which he was transferred 
with his regiment to Yorktown. He took part in the 
defeat of Franklin’s division at West Point, and was in 
the battle of Seven Pines, where their brigade com¬ 
mander, Gen. Robert Hatton, was killed. In this battle 
his company waded waist-deep in water to attack and 
capture a battery which they could not hold for want of 
support. Under the command of General Archer he 
fought at Gaines’ Mill, where the brigade lost heavily in 
the assault and capture of a Federal battery; was in the 
fight at White Oak swamp, marched with Jackson to 
northern Virginia, and participated in the battles of Cedar 
Mountain, Second Manassas, in the latter fight command¬ 
ing the company after all the superior officers had fallen, 
and winning promotion by his gallantry. He then took 
part in the battles of Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fred¬ 
ericksburg and Chancellorsville. In this last battle, on 
May 3d, Lieutenant Matthews received a severe wound in 
the ankle and was left between the lines, but managed to 
return to his comrades and was for a considerable time 
in the hospital at Richmond. He was then detailed to 
obtain recruits in east Tennessee, a service which occu¬ 
pied him during the remainder of the war. He was 
paroled at Danville, was married in Virginia, October 19, 
1865, and then resided at Louisville, Ky., for nine years. 
During his residence at Reidsville he has been one of the 
leading merchants of the city and a prominent citizen. 

Nc 64 


644 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Colonel David Guy Maxwell, of Charlotte, is a native 
of Mecklenburg county, born April 20, 1840, the son of 
William Maxwell, who was a captain of State militia 
before 1861, and for twenty-two years clerk of the court 
and register of deeds of Mecklenburg county. His grand¬ 
father was Guy Maxwell, a native of County Tyrone, 
Ireland, who emigrated to Pennsylvania about the year 
1790, with his parents, William and Sarah (Guy) Max¬ 
well, who subsequently removed to Mecklenburg county, 
leaving two brothers in Pennsylvania, a descendant of 
one of whom, Robert Maxwell, was third assistant post¬ 
master-general in President Cleveland’s second adminis¬ 
tration. The mother of Colonel Maxwell was Nancy 
A., daughter of Col. Zebulon Morris and great-grand¬ 
daughter of Judge John Ford, a signer of the Mecklen¬ 
burg declaration. Colonel Maxwell was educated at 
various academies and at Davidson college, and immedi¬ 
ately after the fall of Fort Sumter, assisted in the organ¬ 
ization of a company known as the Mecklenburg Farmers, 
which became Company H of the Thirty-fifth North 
Carolina regiment. At first second lieutenant, he was 
at once promoted first lieutenant, and after the reorgan¬ 
ization, elected captain. After the previous captain, 
then disabled, resigned, he accepted this rank, in which 
he served with much efficiency thereafter. He took part 
in the bloody Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond 
and the battles of Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg and 
Shepherdstown, and from the latter field, being very ill, 
was taken to a farmhouse and thence transferred to 
Martinsburg, where, the hospital being full, he was cared 
for in a private home. When the Federals took posses¬ 
sion of the town, the proprietor, fearing his house would 
be burned, assisted him to escape at night. The captain’s 
faithful servant found a loose horse on the street, and 
improvising a bridle, mounted the captain upon it and 
carried him safely to a farmhouse six miles from the 
enemy’s lines, whence he was sent to his home. In the 
spring of 1863 he rejoined his regiment, then in eastern 
North Carolina, and attempted to resume his service, and 
was able to leave the ambulance long enough to take part 
in the battle of Batchelder’s Creek, but was advised by the 
surgeon to resign. This he did, with the recommenda¬ 
tion of General Ransom that he be assigned by Governor 
Vance to light duty. He was soon elected colonel of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


645 


Eighty-fifth North Carolina State militia, and appointed 
Confederate State tax collector for the Forty-fifth North 
Carolina district and stationed at Charlotte, where he 
remained until the close of hostilities. He has resided at 
Charlotte since 1867, occupied as a merchant and farmer, 
owning the Sugar Hill estate, the site of a revolutionary 
battle, and frequently serving his city in official capaci¬ 
ties. For ten years he held the rank of adjutant of Meck¬ 
lenburg camp, U. C. V. He was married, in 1863, to 
Margaret, daughter of Dr. S. B. Watson, and they have 
five children. His eldest son, William, is yardmaster of 
the Southern railroad at Columbia, S. C., and the second 
son, Watson, is in business at New York city. 

Theophilus C. May, now a prominent citizen of Spring 
Hope, N. C., and one of the leading farmers of his 
county, was identified during the war with the troops 
which served in defense of the State. He was born in 
Franklin county in 1838, and in January, 1862, entered 
the service of the State in a company organized in Nash 
county. In a battalion composed of this and three com¬ 
panies from other counties, he was mustered in at 
Raleigh, and first assigned to duty on the Raleigh & 
Gaston railroad, guarding bridges, etc., which occupied 
the command until about May, 1863. His company, then 
being ordered to Kinston, was merged in the battalion 
of Maj. Clement G. Wright, under General Robertson’s 
command. After a short service at Tarboro, the com¬ 
pany was made a part of the Sixtieth regiment at Wil¬ 
mington, and with that command took part in various 
service near the coast, including the siege and capture of 
Plymouth. Private May shared in all this service and 
the later perilous duty in defending Petersburg from 
the Federal army under Butler and holding the Cold 
Harbor line against Grant, and in the continual fighting 
on the Petersburg lines to Christmas, 1864, when he was 
transferred to Bragg’s command at Wilmington. After 
the fall of that city he participated in the gallant service 
of Hoke’s division at Bentonville. Since the close of hos¬ 
tilities he has devoted himself to the management of his 
agricultural interests. By his marriage, in i860, to Eliza¬ 
beth Edwards, he has had eleven children: Thomas J., 
who died in 1896, leaving one daughter, Ruth May; 
James Oliver; Mary E., wife of W. G. Taylor; Ada A., 


646 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


wife of W. G. Edgington; Susan E., wife of J. M. Valen¬ 
tine; Charles E., Genatus J., Albert F., Sallie, Myrtle 
and Wylie. 

Samuel H. Maynor, of Norwood, Twenty-third regi¬ 
ment, was born in Montgomery county, November 12, 
1840, the son of Andrew J. and Sallie (Redding) Maynor. 
He was a member of the first company which left his 
native county for the Confederate service, enlisting as 
a private in the company of Capt. Calvin Cochran, Com¬ 
pany C of the Twenty-third regiment, State troops, Col. 
D. H. Christie. His service began May 27, 1861, and 
continued until the close of the war. In 1862 he was pro¬ 
moted corporal, and about the first of 1863 orderly-ser¬ 
geant. He was in all the battles of his regiment and 
Iverson’s brigade, except when disabled by wounds, and 
was identified with the army of Northern Virginia from 
the time the regiment was ordered there, the date of the 
battle of First Manassas. Under Gen. Samuel Garland, 
he was at Seven Pines and the campaign before Rich¬ 
mond, and fought at South mountain, where Garland fell. 
In many other great battles he did a soldier’s duty, 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Cedar Creek being some 
of the most famous. Under Iverson his regiment was 
among the first in the fight at Gettysburg, July 1st, and 
suffered terribly, Colonel Christie being among the killed 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston and Major Blacknall 
among the wounded. Sergeant Maynor fell with a severe 
wound in the face, which disabled him for six or eight 
months. Returning to the service when he had recov¬ 
ered, he fought on, and at Cold Harbor was again 
severely wounded, a ball passing through the leg. Fin¬ 
ally being surrendered at Appomattox, under the brigade 
command of Gen. R. D. Johnston, he returned to his 
native county and engaged in farming, which was his 
occupation until 1895, when he embarked in the manage¬ 
ment of a hotel at Norwood. By his marriage, in 1865, 
to Eliza J., daughter of George Hilliard, he has seven 
children: Anna P., Emma B., J. C., Nannie L., M. C., 
L. A., and Sallie B. Maynor. 

Captain Edward Hughes Meadows, a prominent citizen 
of New Bern, served faithfully in various capacities with 
the armed forces of the Confederate States. He was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


647 


born at New Bern, April 26, 1843, an d received his pre¬ 
paratory education there, then entering Trinity college, 
which he left in 1859 to take up the study of medicine. 
At the beginning of hostilities, in 1861, he volunteered as 
a member of the Elm City Rifles, but after about one 
month’s service as a private, he was assigned to the med¬ 
ical department at New Bern, where he was on duty until 
the evacuation. He performed the same service at Golds¬ 
boro until September, 1862, when he was appointed 
assistant commissary of subsistence, with the rank of 
captain, and assigned to the Thirty-first regiment, North 
Carolina troops. In this capacity and later as assistant 
to Major Gage, commissary of Clingman’s brigade, he 
continued until the spring of 1864, when he went into 
active service at the front as first sergeant of Company 
K of the Thirty-first regiment. He fought in the des¬ 
perate battles of Drewry’s Bluff, Bermuda Hundred and 
Second Cold Harbor, until in the last he was shot in the 
right wrist, completely disabling him for further duty in 
the field. Nevertheless, after his wound had healed, in 
November following, he was on duty in the medical 
department at Goldsboro and afterward at High Point, 
until the surrender. He was at Charleston during the 
siege, and, in December, 1862, participated in the skir¬ 
mish at Deep Gully, Craven county. Since 1865 he has 
been engaged in business at New Bern, first in the drug 
trade and later as a manufacturer of fertilizers. He 
has been honored with the presidency of the State board 
of pharmacy two years; was mayor of New Bern four 
years, 1884 to 1888; was eighteen years chairman of the 
district school committee, and is now chairman of the 
county board of education. In business matters he is 
prominent as a former director of the Atlantic & North 
Carolina railroad, and is now vice-president of the New 
Bern cotton exchange and of the Citizens’ bank. 

John Stephen Meadows, of Louisburg, was born in 
Granville county, N. C., February 25, 1840. At the begin¬ 
ning of the great war he abandoned his occupation as a 
traveling salesman and devoted the next four years to the 
military service of his State and the Confederacy, of 
which he was a devoted supporter throughout. Enlisting 
in June, 1861, as a private in Company D, Twelfth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, under Col. Sol Williams, 


648 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


he was on duty as a private for about eighteen months, 
during which he participated in the campaign in south¬ 
eastern Virginia, fighting at Hanover Court House and 
in the Seven Days’ battles, where his regiment suffered 
heavy loss. Surviving the carnage there, he was taken 
sick when the army entered Maryland and was left at a 
farmhouse near Frederick City, where he was captured. 
Fortunately, he was imprisoned but two months, at Fort 
Delaware, and then being exchanged, returned to the 
ranks in time to fight at Chancellorsville. At Gettys¬ 
burg he was shot in the right hand, compelling its 
amputation, and he again fell into the hands of the 
enemy, being held at David’s island hospital, New York, 
until September. Then being paroled, he returned 
home, disabled for further service. In his crippled con¬ 
dition he took up the study of medicine, and, after study¬ 
ing at Richmond, Va., was graduated at the Atlanta 
medical college in 1868. For five years he practiced the 
profession near Oxford, N. C., and then embarked in 
the tobacco business, which he has ever since followed. 
Under President Cleveland’s first administration he was 
collector of internal revenue for the Fourth district. 
Since 1890 his home has been at Louisburg, where he is 
proprietor of the Meadows hotel. He was married in 
1866 to Elizabeth D. Hobgood, of Oxford, who died in 
1872, leaving four children, of whom three are living, 
Toccoa, Samuel and Benjamin Hill. In 1874 he was 
married to Dora Davis, of Henderson, by whom he has 
seven children: Emma, John, Willie, Claude, Owen, 
Boyd and Ruth. 

Paul B. Means, a prominent lawyer residing at Con¬ 
cord, was born in Cabarrus county, April 7, 1845, of 
patriotic North Carolina lineage. He is the son of Gen. 
W. C. Means and his wife, Catherine Jane Barringer, 
whose parents were both residents of Cabarrus county. 
His great-grandfather, John Means, came to America 
from Ireland about 1725, and John Paul Barringer, his 
mother’s grandfather, emigrated from Germany about 
the year 1720. One of the latter family, John Paul Bar¬ 
ringer, was taken by the English troops and imprisoned 
at Camden, S. C., on account of his devotion to the cause 
of the colonies during the war of the revolution. Colonel 
Means, as the subject of this sketch is familiarly known, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


649 


enlisted, at the age of seventeen years, in Company F 
of the Fifth North Carolina cavalry, and served as a 
private and on the staff of Gen. Rufus Barringer, during 
the remainder of the war, participating in all the cam¬ 
paigns of his regiment and many a hard-fought encounter 
with the enemy. He was among the bravest of the 
famous North Carolina troopers; in every emergency he 
displayed the heroic qualities of a soldier, and was 
wounded three times in battle. In a letter dated May 3, 
1881, to Wade H. Harris, editor of The Sun, Concord, 
N. C., General Barringer says: “Colonel Means, though 
a mere boy when he waived a right to an exemption from 
the war, to which he was entitled on account of near¬ 
sightedness, and volunteered, was allotted to my head¬ 
quarters after some years’ service as a private in the 
Fifth cavalry regiment, and bore a gallant and conspicu¬ 
ous part in most of the movements of the North Carolina 
cavalry brigade. ’’ Returning home a veteran at the age 
of twenty years, he completed his education at the uni¬ 
versity of North Carolina, with graduation in June, 1868; 
and then entered upon the study of law, reading for two 
years with Chief Justice Pearson at Richmond Hill. He 
began the practice of his profession at Concord, January 
17, 1870, and has since then made that place his home. 
He has attained distinction as a lawyer, and since 1876 
has acted continuously as counsel for the Richmond & 
Danville railroad company and its successor, the South¬ 
ern. He was elected a trustee of the university of North 
Carolina in 1872, and has ever since served in that capac¬ 
ity, being re-elected every eight years by the legislature 
of North Carolina. He has also efficiently represented 
his county several terms in each branch of the State leg¬ 
islature. He was commissioned by Governor Vance as a 
member of his staff on the 8th day of January, 1877, 
“with the rank of colonel to date from the 1st day of 
January, 1877.’’ In 1868, and continuously since, he 
has been active and prominent in the councils and cam¬ 
paigns of the Democratic party in his State and in the 
nation. He has represented his county in every congres¬ 
sional, judicial and State convention in which it was en¬ 
titled to delegates since 1868, and has been a delegate from 
his congressional district to three national conventions, 
and once a delegate from the State-at-large to a national 
convention. While always the truest supporter of all 


650 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


nominees of the Democratic party, as represented at Chi¬ 
cago in 1896, he is an uncompromising “gold standard 
Democrat,’’ and has unfalteringly been so ever since the 
differences on the financial issue began in his party; and 
since the issues of “free silver’’ and, subsequently, of 
“fusion” with populists, first arose in his State, he has 
always and vigorously opposed both; notably as one of 
the State Democratic executive committee for North Car¬ 
olina, of which he is now and has been a member for more 
than twenty years, and most of the time he was the 
only member of the committee who contested and voted 
against these issues, until the State Democratic conven¬ 
tion of May 26, 1898, decided against fusion with any other 
party. He is now the only “gold standard Democrat’’ 
on this committee. On the 27th day of November, 1894, 
he and Mrs. M. F. Ross, formerly Miss Moselle Foard, 
of Concord, were married in All Saints (Episcopal) 
church of Concord, of which they are both members. 

Colonel Oliver Pendleton Meares, of Wilmington, N. C., 
entered the State service in April, 1861, as captain of 
the Wilmington Rifle Guards, and, when that volunteer 
organization became Company I of the Eighteenth 
North Carolina regiment, he was elected lieutenant- 
colonel. In this rank he served until the reorganization 
in 1862, when he accepted the position of quartermaster 
of the Sixty-first regiment. He remained with his regi¬ 
ment in this capacity until the list of quartermasters 
was reduced, in 1864, when he became assistant brigade 
quartermaster of Clingman’s brigade, Hoke’s division. 
He served in this capacity until the surrender of John¬ 
ston’s army at Greensboro. Making his home at Fay¬ 
etteville after this event, he remained there until Janu¬ 
ary, 1867, when he was elected judge of the criminal 
court of New Hanover county. His term in this office 
was cut short, by its abolishment, and he resumed his 
practice until again elected judge of the criminal court of 
Hanover county. He served eight years in this office, 
eight years as circuit judge of New Hanover and Meck¬ 
lenburg counties, and two years after the circuit was 
enlarged to seven counties, resigning in 1897. 

Thomas D. Meares, general agent of the Seaboard Air 
Line railroad at Wilmington, has the honor of being one 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


651 


of the boy soldiers of North Carolina during the closing 
scenes of the great struggle. He was born at Raleigh, 
in 1848, and was reared at Wilmington. In December, 
1864, being about sixteen years of age, he enlisted as a 
private in the Junior reserves, under Col. James G. Burr, 
but within a few weeks his soldierly qualities led to his 
selection as courier on the staff of Gen. Bradley T. John¬ 
son, at Salisbury. A month later he joined the staff of 
Gen. Wade Hampton, between Hillsboro and Durham, 
and began a service as courier for that gallant cavalry 
commander, which continued until the end of the war. 
After the battle of Bentonville and the surrender which 
followed, he went to his father’s farm near Salisbury 
and remained there until 1867, when he returned to Wil¬ 
mington. For two years he was connected with the 
Wilmington Star, subsequently was in the mercantile 
business, and first entered the service of the railroad 
with which he is now connected in 1874. He is a very 
competent and courteous official, a valued citizen, and 
has served efficiently as a member of the board of aider- 
men of Wilmington. 

Cornelius Mebane, of Greensboro, a descendant of 
Alexander Mebane, a distinguished public man of North 
Carolina during the early days of the Republic, did gal¬ 
lant service as a soldier of the Confederacy. He was 
born at Mason Hall, Orange county, June 14, 1839, and, 
at the beginning of hostilities, as a member of the Orange 
Guards, participated in the occupation of Fort Macon, 
by the State troops. A few weeks later he joined an¬ 
other company which was assigned as Company F, to the 
Sixth regiment, North Carolina volunteers, which, under 
the command of Col. Charles F. Fisher, joined the forces 
of General Johnston in the Shenandoah valley, and, mov¬ 
ing thence to the support of Beauregard, had its first 
baptism of fire at the Henry house on the field of vic¬ 
tory at Manassas plains. At this time he held the posi¬ 
tion of quartermaster-sergeant, from which he was pro¬ 
moted to sergeant-major, and in 1862 to adjutant of the 
regiment. He was with his gallant regiment at York- 
town, through the Seven Days’ campaign, at Second 
Manassas and Boonsboro, Md., and, at the latter fight, 
was wounded in the face and side, on account of 
which he was sent to the hospital at Richmond and subse- 


652 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


quently given a furlough. Rejoining his command, he 
took part in the Pennsylvania campaign and the gallant 
charge of his regiment to the summit of Cemetery hill 
on the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. At Mine 
Run he was again severely wounded, an arm being shat¬ 
tered, but he returned to duty at Kinston and took part 
in the storming of Plymouth under General Hoke. Dur¬ 
ing the remainder of 1864 he was with his regiment in 
almost constant service, driving Butler back from Peters¬ 
burg, defeating Grant on the Cold Harbor line, driving 
Hunter down the Shenandoah valley, traversing Mary¬ 
land and demonstrating before the United States capital, 
and taking part in the exhausting service and severe bat¬ 
tles of Early’s army opposed to Sheridan in the valley. 
Then he served in the Petersburg trenches, took part in 
the desperate attack of Gordon’s corps on Fort Stedman, 
and was with the army on the retreat to Appomattox, 
where he was paroled. Subsequently he was mainly 
engaged in cotton manufacturing, in Alamance county, 
until 1881, when he made his home at Greensboro, where 
he has served for some time in the United States revenue 
service. 

Captain James I. Metts, of Wilmington, was born at Kin¬ 
ston, N. C., March 16, 1842, and was reared from the age 
of six years at the city where he now resides. Early in 
1861 he left the State university to enlist in the Rifle 
Guards, organizing in anticipation of war, and on April 
15th was with his company in the seizure of Fort Cas¬ 
well. Soon afterward his company was assigned to the 
Eighteenth regiment, and he was made corporal and was 
one of the color guard of the regiment when it was 
ordered to Coosawhatchie, S. C. On leaving the latter 
place he was given charge of the regimental colors, 
which he carried until his term of service expired, after 
twelve months. Re-enlisting, he became fifth sergeant 
of Company G, Third regiment, Col. Gaston Meares, and 
entered the campaign before Richmond at the close of 
the battle of Seven Pines. He took part in the Seven 
Days’ battles with distinction, winning attention by his 
unassuming bravery, and ability as sergeant specially 
manifested in reforming part of the regiment at the bat¬ 
tle of Cold Harbor, and, in command of a detail, guard¬ 
ing a causeway in the Chickahominy swamp. He was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


653 


among those who received the last orders of Colonel 
Meares before he was killed at Malvern hill. After this 
fight he was made orderly-sergeant, and on return to 
camp near Richmond, was honored by being assigned to 
the main work of drilling the recruits for his company. 
During the Maryland campaign he was disabled by ill¬ 
ness contracted in the peninsula swamps, but he rejoined 
his company at Bunker Hill, and Captain Rhodes and 
First Lieutenant Quince having been killed at Sharps- 
burg, in the promotions which followed Sergeant Metts 
became senior second lieutenant. At Winchester he was 
detailed as commissary of the regiment, and after Front 
Royal, he discharged the duties of adjutant. His cool¬ 
ness at Fredericksburg attracted the attention of superior 
officers. Afterward he was disabled by pneumonia and 
in hospital at Richmond until his regiment started 
through Culpeper toward Pennsylvania, when he joined 
it and took part in the fighting around Winchester, where 
his brigade, Stuart’s, at Jordan’s Springs, did much 
toward the victory over Milroy. He commanded the 
rear guard of the brigade two days prior to crossing the 
Potomac. In the Confederate assault on Culp’s hill, on 
the evening of the second day of the battle of Gettysburg, 
he led his men forward and was soon hotly engaged 
within seventy-five yards of the second line of Federal 
breastworks. In the dark some boy soldier came up to 
him and said, “Lieutenant, my father is killed.” He 
could only answer, “Well, we cannot help it;” and the 
boy, replying, “No, we cannot help it,” turned about 
and resumed firing as rapidly as he could at the enemy. 
Long afterward the lieutenant was told that the boy kept 
up his firing till exhausted, and that next day his face 
was black with powder. A few minutes later Lieuten¬ 
ant Metts felt his right breast penetrated by a rifle ball, 
and experienced the excruciating pain that follows a 
wound in the lungs. He turned to Lieut.-Col. William 
M. Parsley, Adjutant James and Capt. Ed. H. Arm¬ 
strong, three as brave men as ever stepped to the tap of 
the drum, and told them his condition, and James helped 
him to the ambulance corps. He soon fell from loss 
of blood, and suffered terrible pain as he was hauled two 
miles over the rough road in an ambulance. But for the 
care of a sister of charity he would have died in the field 
hospital. Many people from Baltimore and elsewhere 


654 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


visited the wounded Confederates at Gettysburg, bring¬ 
ing clothing and delicacies of food. An elderly lady, 
who brought two charming young lady friends, on find¬ 
ing that his rough bed had no sheet, pulled off her petti¬ 
coat; tore it in two and pinned it together, saying, 
“Don’t mind me, boys, I’m a mother; and he shall have 
a good sheet to-morrow.” The same kindness followed 
him in the general camp hospital and in the West building 
hospital at Baltimore, where he found his kinsmen, Col. 
Thomas S. and James G. Kenan, also wounded on Culp’s 
hill. Soon afterward he was transferred to Johnson’s 
island, Lake Erie, where Colonel Kenan was his bunk- 
mate for thirteen months. Their sufferings here during 
winter were excessive, with insufficient food, scanty 
clothing, in houses neither ceiled nor plastered, and with 
but one stove for about 60 prisoners. During one night, 
when the mercury was twenty degrees below zero and 
even the guard was forced to take shelter, Maj. John 
Winsted and three or four others escaped and made their 
way across the ice to the mainland, but the excessive cold 
prevented all from going further, except Major Winsted, 
who reached Canada and returned to the Confederacy on 
a blockade-runner. Many tunnels were dug for escape, 
but were invariably discovered, and many amusing inci¬ 
dents occurred in connection with them. The treatment 
of the prisoners by the guards was cruel until they were 
relieved by two brigades from the front. In August, 
1864, Lieutenant Metts was selected, as one of the most 
enfeebled and delicate of the prisoners, for exchange, and 
not long afterward found himself again upon the streets 
of Richmond rejoicing in a new lease of life, for he had 
been assured that he could not survive another winter at 
Johnson’s island. He found that Captain Armstrong, an 
amiable gentleman, fine scholar and one of the bravest 
of men, had been killed at Spottsylvania, and he had 
been promoted to captain of his compauy, which he 
joined at Staunton in December. He took command of 
his company and Company E, and served in Cox’s bri¬ 
gade of Grimes’ division, though his health was very deli¬ 
cate, until detailed to serve on the staff of Major-General 
Grimes as special inspector of division. The night before 
arms were stacked at Appomattox he accompanied a 
band from division headquarters to serenade General 
Lee, who was too much affected to say much, but gave 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


655 


each of the boys a warm pressure of the hand and an 
affectionate good-bye. He started home in company 
with Gen. W. R. Cox, Surg. Thomas F. Wood and 
others, and, after joining his mother, brothers and sisters 
at Graham, went to Wilmington and began the struggle 
of civil life, with the duty of caring for his family, who 
had lost all their property. His first engagement was 
with two Federal sutlers, who treated him kindly. Since 
then his exertions have been rewarded with the success 
that is the just desert of a brave patriot. In 1882 Cap¬ 
tain Metts had the pleasure of receiving his sword, 
which, as he was being taken to the rear at Gettysburg, 
he gave to a Maryland physician, Dr. J. R. T. Reeves, for 
safekeeping. The doctor saved the sword from capture, 
and after many years’ search, finally discovered its owner. 

Anderson R. Miller, prior to his death a prominent 
merchant of Kinston, N. C., was born in Lenoir county, 
in 1830, and was there reared and educated, and in 1858 
was married to Delia M., daughter of James Henry. He 
was one of four brothers who were in the service of the 
Confederate States: John P. Miller, serving as a ser¬ 
geant in the Sixty-sixth North Carolina regiment; Fran¬ 
cis X. as a pontoon builder, and Wyley P. as corporal in 
Latham’s battery. He entered the service in August, 
1862, as a private in Nethercutt’s battalion, which later 
became a part of the Sixty-sixth regiment, and he was 
on duty in the ranks with this command until the fall of 
1864, when he was detailed as hospital steward with 
Starr’s battery. In that capacity he served until surren¬ 
dered with the army at Greensboro. His military service 
was rendered within the State, and included a number 
of skirmishes and the battles of Cobb’s Mill and Benton- 
ville. After the close of hostilities he returned to his 
home at Kinston and resided there until his death. He 
served two terms as city commissioner and was valued 
as an enterprising and useful citizen. By his marriage, 
in 1858, he had three children, who survive him: Sybil, 
wife of Dr. H. O. Hyatt; Maud, wife of George S. Luce; 
Edwin L., and William R. Miller. He died March 3, 1898. 

James Calvin Miller, of Winston, one of the pioneers 
of that flourishing young North Carolina city, is a native 
of Forsyth county, born December 3, 1830. He recalls 


656 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


with pride the fact that he was permitted to serve in the 
Confederate cause, though circumstances prevented his 
entering the army until the latter part of the war. His 
enlistment was in Company G of the Fourth regiment, 
North Carolina troops. With this famous command he 
took part in the battle of Kinston and various skirmishes 
in the eastern part of the State during the invasion by 
Sherman and Schofield. Since the close of hostilities he 
has been active in the upbuilding of his section in his 
business as a carpenter and contractor. By his marriage, 
in 1856, to Esther R. Thomas, he has four children, 
J. R., Mrs. Mary E. White, Mrs. Laura M. Miller, and 
Mrs. Alice S. Carmichael. 

Robert Martin Miller, of Reidsville, a veteran of Ju¬ 
nius Daniel’s old regiment, who was severely wounded 
at Sharpsburg and lost a leg at Chancellorsville, was 
born in Rockingham county, December 19, 1835. He 
enlisted May 24, 1861, in the Reid Guards, Capt. S. S. 
Slade, which became Company G of the Fourteenth 
regiment, North Carolina troops, organized at Garysburg 
early in June. He was with his regiment at Yorktown, 
at Seven Pines and through the bloody struggle of the 
Seven Days before Richmond, at Second Manassas, South 
Mountain and Sharpsburg, everywhere performing the 
full duty of a fearless soldier. Wounded in the head at 
Sharpsburg, where the loss of his regiment was very 
heavy, he was for a considerable time confined to hospi¬ 
tal, but he returned to the ranks in time to take part in the 
battle of Fredericksburg. At Chancellorsville, May 3d, 
he fell with a severe wound in the left leg, which necessi¬ 
tated amputation. Thus crippled, he could no longer 
serve the cause he loved, and as soon as able he returned 
home to resume, with this heavy handicap, the struggles 
of civil life. His career since then, mainly as a merchant 
for twenty years at Reidsville, has been a thoroughly 
honorable and praiseworthy one. By his marriage, in 
1859, to Elizabeth Dodson, he has six children living: 
James, Robert H., Mollie F., John, Jennie E., and Adol¬ 
phus. 

Lieutenant Luther R. Mills, for more than thirty years 
a prominent factor in the educational affairs of North 
Carolina, as professor of mathematics at Wake Forest 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


657 


college, was associated with the cause of the Confederate 
States as a member of the Twenty-sixth regiment, Vir¬ 
ginia . infantry. He is a native of the Old Dominion, 
born in Halifax county in 1840. In 1861 he was gradu¬ 
ated at Wake Forest college, receiving the master’s de¬ 
gree, and in September following he entered the Con¬ 
federate service as fourth sergeant of Company K of 
the Virginia regiment named. He was soon promoted 
first sergeant of his company and retained that position 
until 1864, declining promotion to captain and assistant 
quartermaster. In the latter year he was commissioned 
second lieutenant. His military service covered almost 
the whole period of the war, and brought him into the 
famous defensive fighting at Yorktown, Chapin’s bluff, 
at Charleston, S. C., during the siege of 1863, the defeat 
of the Federal invasion of Florida, during the Olustee 
campaign, Beauregard’s defense of Petersburg against 
Butler and Grant, and the siege of Petersburg, including 
the battle of the Crater, where he was severely wounded 
in the right shoulder. During the siege Lieutenant Mills 
was identified with the service of Anderson’s corps, and 
during the retreat from Petersburg he was in the fight¬ 
ing up to and including Sailor’s Creek, where he was 
captured, April 6, 1865. As a prisoner of war he was 
carried to the Old Capitol and thence to Johnson’s island, 
and was not released until June 19, 1865. He became a 
member of the faculty at Wake Forest college in Janu¬ 
ary, 1867. By his marriage, in 1869, to Anna Lewis, of 
Tarboro, he has three daughters and two sons, the latter 
of whom are now in charge of the male academy at 
Franklin. 

Lieutenant Walter A. Montgomery, justice of the 
supreme court of North Carolina, served as a Confederate 
soldier throughout the four years’ struggle, and returned 
from Appomattox a veteran at the age of twenty years. 
He was born at Warrenton, February 17, 1845, and en¬ 
listed in May, 1861, as a private in Company E, First 
North Carolina cavalry, Capt. W. H. Cheek. But he was 
very young for a soldier’s .life and a month later was 
honorably discharged. Determined, however, to con¬ 
tinue in the service, he enlisted within ten days as a pri¬ 
vate in Company A of the Second infantry regiment, 
then stationed at Norfolk. This regiment was known 


658 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


after the reorganization, in May, 1862, as the Twelfth 
infantry, and, under the command of Cols. B. O. Wade, 
W. S. Davis and H. C. Coleman, in the brigade com¬ 
manded successively by Samuel Garland, Alfred Iverson 
and Robert D. Johnston, won great distinction in the 
army of Northern Virginia. Private Montgomery be¬ 
came a sergeant in 1862, and in the fall of 1864 was pro¬ 
moted to second lieutenant of Company F. He shared 
the gallant service of his command at Hanover Court 
House, in May, 1862; at Fredericksburg, December, 
1862; at Chancellorsville, where he was slightly wounded; 
Brandy Station, June, 1863; the first day’s battle at Get¬ 
tysburg, where he was wounded; Kelly’s Ford, Mine 
Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Hatch¬ 
er’s Run, the many months of fighting in the Petersburg 
trenches, the famous sortie under Gordon on March 25, 
1865, the battles of April 1st and 2, 1865, Sailor’s Creek 
and other encounters on the retreat, and finally was in 
the last fight at Appomattox, where he was paroled with 
Lee. After this long career as a soldier, in which he 
shared the fame of North Carolinians in the most valor¬ 
ous army of history, he became a student at Warrenton 
academy. Soon his studies were specialized upon the 
law, and, being admitted to practice at Raleigh, in Jan¬ 
uary, 1867, he began a career as a lawyer which is famil¬ 
iar to the people of his State. He made his residence at 
Warrenton and remained in practice there, except two 
or three years, in 1873-75, when his home was at Mem¬ 
phis, Tenn. In 1894 he was elected to the supreme 
court of the State, to fill the vacancy caused by the ap¬ 
pointment of Judge Sheperd as chief justice, and in 
1896 he was elected for the full term of eight years. 

Lieutenant Augustus Minton Moore, formerly of the 
Confederate States service, now an attorney of Green¬ 
ville, N. C., was born at Edenton in 1841, and there 
reared and prepared for college at the Edenton academy. 
He abandoned his studies at the university of North Caro¬ 
lina in May, 1861, to enter the military service for the 
defense of his State, becoming a private in Company A 
of the First regiment, State troops. A year later he was 
elected first lieutenant of Company A, Third battalion, 
light artillery, with which he served until the latter part 
of 1863. He was then detached on staff duty with Col. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


659 


George Jackson until toward the close of 1864, and after¬ 
ward as judge advocate of the general court martial, on 
the staff of General Bragg. During his active career in 
the field, he participated in the battle of Seven Pines, 
the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond and the North 
Carolina engagements at Whitehall, and Spring Bank, 
and was under fire at Sugar Loaf during the bombard¬ 
ment. He was once wounded, slightly, in the leg. He 
was with the army at Greensboro, was surrendered there, 
then returned to his native county, and like most of the 
soldiers of the Confederacy, farmed at first for a liveli¬ 
hood. Subsequently reading law, he was admitted to 
practice and remained at Edenton, following his profes¬ 
sion until January, 1883, when he removed to Greenville. 
Thence, in 1889, he moved to the State of Washington, 
and there made his home, first at Seattle and then at 
Mount Vernon, engaging in the practice of law, and, in 
1895, representing his county in the Washington legisla¬ 
ture. In January, 1897, he returned to Greenville. He 
has taken a prominent part in political affairs, as a can¬ 
didate for attorney-general of North Carolina, in 1880, 
and as a Republican candidate for presidential elector 
in 1888. 

James Daniel Moore, manufacturer and banker, at 
Gastonia, and a veteran of the Twenty-sixth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, was born in Caldwell county, in 
1846, a son of Carroll Moore. His grandfather, Daniel 
Moore, a native of Virginia, was a revolutionary soldier 
at the age of fifteen years and fought at the battle of 
King’s Mountain. The latter was a grandson of John 
Moore, a native of Ireland. The wife of Carroll Moore 
was Sarah Mast, whose great-grandfather, David Mast, 
emigrated from Holland to Pennsylvania, whence a 
branch of the family removed to Ohio, where its descend¬ 
ants are prominent manufacturers. Mr. Moore, at the 
outbreak of war, was preparing for college, but in May, 
1861, at the age of fifteen years, he enlisted as a private 
in Company F, Twenty-sixth regiment. He served in 
North Carolina until the spring of 1862, experiencing his 
first battle at New Bern, and in Virginia fought at Seven 
Pines and throughout the Seven Days’ struggle before 
Richmond. In North Carolina he again took part in the 
siege of Little Washington and several skirmishes and 

No 65 


660 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


then, rejoining the army of Northern Virginia, fought at 
Fredericksburg during the battle of Chancellorsville. 
At Gettysburg his company, led by Captain Tuttle, took 
part in the assault on Seminary ridge on the first day 
and suffered terrible loss. Of eighty-seven men who 
went into the charge, only three reached the crest of the 
hill, one of whom was Private Moore. While crossing 
the wheat field, the colors fell fourteen times, from the 
hands of the wounded or killed color-bearers, and were 
as often picked up and carried on toward the Federal 
lines. Of the gallant three who reached the summit of 
the hill, Moore was first wounded and then his comrade 
Henry Coffee. The other, Sergt. Robert Hudspeth, 
went through the battle unhurt. Mr. Moore was brought 
back to Virginia and carried to Richmond, where he lay 
in the hospital thirty days and was then sent to his home. 
He was not able to rejoin his regiment until May i, 

1864, on the eve of the terrible struggle from the Rapidan 
to the James, in which he participated from beginning to 
end. After the battle of the Crater on the Petersburg 
lines, he was transferred to the First cavalry. After 
obtaining a horse he joined the cavalry in September and 
participated in the battle of Belfield. Here his horse, 
being unused to war, became unmanageable and carried 
him into the Federal lines, but, in the stampede, he 
escaped without injury. During January and February, 

1865, he served as courier to Gen. Wade Hampton and 
subsequently was with a wagon train until the surrender 
of the army. Returning to civil life, he went West, in 
the winter of 1865, and resided at Winamac, Ind., George¬ 
town, Ill., and Indianapolis, variously occupied, until 
1868, when he returned to North Carolina. From that 
time he was very successfully engaged as a merchant, 
until 1897, when he became connected with the First 
national bank at Gastonia, of which he is now cashier. 
In 1888 he took a prominent part in the establishment of 
the Gastonia cotton manufacturing company, of which 
he was secretary and treasurer. Subsequently he found¬ 
ed the Modena cotton mill, with which he is connected as 
secretary, treasurer and general manager. By his mar¬ 
riage, in 1870, to Martha J. Lewis, he has eight children, 
Henry Beeler, John C., James D., Jr., Charles Milton, 
Mary Eugenie, wife of J. Morrow; Essie Modena, wife 
of Rev. C. H. Durham; Sarah Jane, and Martha Rebecca. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 661 

Lieutenant James E. Moore, of the Third North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry, after the war a prominent lawyer of Williams- 
ton, was born in Martin county, January 30, 1841. He 
was graduated with the honor of valedictorian of his 
class, at the university of North Carolina, in 1862, and 
was at once admitted to the practice of law at Raleigh. 
Returning home he made an unsuccessful attempt to 
raise a company for the Confederate service, and then, 
early in the fall of that year, enlisted as a private in the 
Third cavalry. In the following year he was elected 
second lieutenant of Company K, the rank in which 
the remainder of his service was given. He was 
first on duty in North Carolina and participated in the 
fights at Foster’s Mill and near Jamesville in Martin 
county, in 1863; was captured while on picket duty and 
held as a prisoner about twenty days. Subsequently, 
with the cavalry of the army of Northern Virginia, in 
Barringer’s brigade, his regiment, under the gallant lead¬ 
ership of Col. John A. Baker, he participated in many 
battles and skirmishes in the vicinity of Petersburg and 
Richmond, among them the engagements at Drewry’s 
Bluff, Hanovertown Ferry, Ashland, Hawes’ shop, 
Salem church, Hanover, Cold Harbor, and remained on 
duty and in frequent fighting until, during the retreat, 
he made his way to Lynchburg, and thence to Danville, 
and home after the surrender. In the fall of 1865 he 
was elected to the house of commons, and in 1867 to the 
State senate. Subsequently making his home at Williams- 
ton he resumed the practice of law, in which he after¬ 
ward continued. 

John W. Moore, of Mecklenburg county—Bugler 
Moore, of Barringer’s brigade—is a native of that county, 
born January 2, 1842. He is the son of Samuel McEw- 
ing and Eveline C. (Wallace) Moore, both of Scotch-Irish 
descent. He was educated at the Baptist institute at 
Taylorsville, and enlisted May 18, 1861, as a musician in 
Company C, Ninth regiment, North Carolina volunteers, 
better known as the First North Carolina cavalry. He 
was at once appointed bugler of the company, and in 
that capacity served until in June, 1864, upon the promo¬ 
tion of Colonel Barringer to brigadier-general, he was 
made bugler of the brigade. He was with his famous 
regiment of daring troopers in more than seventy battles, 


662 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 

prominent among which were Dranesville, the Seven 
Days before Richmond, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, June 9, 
1863, and August 1, 1863, Gettysburg, the Wilderness 
and Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Yellow Tavern, Brook 
Church and with the brigade throughout the battles 
about Petersburg and on the retreat to Appomattox. 
He was off duty but six weeks, on account of sickness. 
His faithful horse, Frank, which he rode through the 
war, except a few months after Brandy Station, when he 
was wounded, survived, tenderly cared for by his master, 
until March 7, 1887. Since the close of hostilities Mr. 
Moore has been a prosperous farmer of his native county, 
which he has had the honor of representing one term in 
the legislature. He was married in 1865 to Margaret, 
daughter of Dr. John H. Gibbon, and sister of Gen. 
John Gibbon, of the United States army. She died in 
1886, leaving eight children: John W., a Presbyterian 
minister and missionary in Japan; Nicholas G., a physi¬ 
cian at Pineville, N. C. ; Lynford L., a medical mission¬ 
ary in China; Lizzie C., Samuel W., a Presbyterian 
minister at Pocahontas, Va.; Margaret Anna, Mary A., 
and Francis L. In 1890 Mr. Moore was married to Mary 
A., daughter of Dr. Leander Z. Williamson, of Lancas¬ 
ter, S. C. 

Colonel Roger Moore, of Wilmington, the last com¬ 
mander of the Third North Carolina cavalry, was born 
near Wilmington, July 19, 1838, and was in business in 
that city as a wholesale and commission merchant at the 
beginning of the great war. He was a member of the 
Wilmington light infantry, and enlisting with that com¬ 
mand, served in the Eighteenth regiment, to which it 
was assigned, until June, 1861, when he resigned. In 
the spring of 1862 he entered the service again as a mem¬ 
ber of the company known as Lawrence’s Partisan 
Rangers, subsequently assigned to Claiborne’s regiment, 
the Forty-first North Carolina, or Third cavalry. When 
Lawrence’s rangers were divided into two companies, 
Private Moore was promoted captain and given command 
of the senior company. Soon afterward, being disabled 
by the fall of his horse, he was unable to rejoin his com¬ 
mand until four months later, when he was made com¬ 
missary of the Third cavalry, with the rank of captain. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


663 


About a year later he was promoted major, and, in this 
rank, when Col. John A. Baker was captured June 21, 
1864, he took command of the regiment. In August, 
1864, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel. While with 
the Third cavalry he participated in the battles of Kins¬ 
ton in December, 1862, New Bern (with General Hoke), 
the cavalry affairs on the Blackwater and with Long- 
street about Suffolk, the battles which resulted in the 
bottling of Butler at Bermuda Hundred, Ashland, Yel¬ 
low Tavern, Hanovertown, Hanover Court House, North 
Anna Bridge, Nance’s Shop, Deep Bottom, White Oak 
Swamp, Malvern Hill, Charles City Road, where Gen¬ 
eral Chambliss was killed, Belfield, the fighting with Wil¬ 
son’s and Kautz’s raids under Hampton, the City Point 
cattle raid, Reams’ Station, Burgess’ Mill, Hatcher’s 
Run, Davis’ Farm, Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks 
and Namozine Church. In all of these spirited cavalry 
engagements Colonel Moore bore himself as a gallant 
officer, fully sustaining the reputation of the troopers led 
by Gordon, Barringer and W. H. F. Lee. After the sur¬ 
render of the army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox 
he returned to Clinton, N. C., and in August following 
again made his home at Wilmington, where he has ever 
since resided, becoming one of the leading and prosperous 
business men of the city. He has served as alderman of 
the city and county commissioner of New Hanover county. 

William Collier Moore, of Mount Airy, though a North 
Carolinian by birth, served during the war of the Con¬ 
federacy in a Georgia command. He was born in Cald¬ 
well county, June 6, 1842, and in 1850 was taken by his 
parents to a new home in Forsyth county, Ga. His 
first service, after the beginning of the war, was in 
the State troops at Brunswick, for five months, after 
which he enlisted in the Confederate service with the 
Fulton Dragoons, under Capt. William M. Williams, 
which went to the field in Virginia as a part of the legion 
commanded by Col. T. R. R. Cobb, in the spring of 1862. 
He participated in the Seven Days’ battles before Rich¬ 
mond, and subsequently was assigned to the cavalry bri¬ 
gade of Gen. Wade Hampton, Stuart’s division, army of 
Northern Virginia. After this he shared the fighting of 
Hampton’s brigade and division, throughout the cam¬ 
paigns of 1862 and 1863 in Virginia, Maryland and Penn- 


664 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


sylvania, participating in a great number of combats and 
several famous battles, and in 1864 was at the front 
from the Rapidan to the James. After the army had 
occupied the Richmond and Petersburg lines, his regi¬ 
ment was on duty against Sheridan and Hancock, and 
he shared their constant service until November, when 
he was sent South to obtain horses. While on this duty 
at Augusta, Ga., he was called on to serve in the trenches 
against the advancing army of Sherman. Here he was 
one of fifty mounted men under Gen. P. M. B. Young, 
who, with a body of dismounted men under Major Puck¬ 
ett, of Phillips’ legion, did good service against the great 
Federal army of invasion. Falling back before the 
enemy, he was with General Young when the latter, com* 
■ manding fifty troopers and 300 dismounted men, held back 
a division of the Federal army until Savannah could be 
evacuated. In the spring of 1865 he fought under 
Hampton at Bentonville, and then, being taken sick, 
remained in Wake county until 1873. After that he 
made his home in Raleigh until 1892, when he became a 
citizen of Mount Airy. He has served as commissioner 
of the county and is an influential citizen. 

Captain William Thomas Moore, of Thomasville, N. C., 
was born in Halifax county, Va., December 28, 1828, 
but was reared in North Carolina. In the spring of 1861 
he became a member of the Leesburg Grays, which was 
assigned to the Third regiment of volunteers, organized 
May 16, 1861, at Garysburg, under Col. W. D. Pender. 
After the regiment was ordered to Suffolk, Private Moore 
was sent back to North Carolina to obtain recruits, and 
continued in this duty until he was severely injured by a 
falling tree, which caused his disability for some time. 
On his recovery he was elected captain of a company of 
the reserves, with which he served in eastern North 
Carolina until the close of hostilities, participating in the 
battle of Kinston and at the close being stationed at Lex¬ 
ington. Since then Mr. Moore has been engaged in 
farming quite successfully, is one of the leading men of 
his county, and for two years has served as superintend¬ 
ent of the orphanage at Thomasville. 

Edwin W. Morris, of Franklinton, a veteran of the 
Sixth North Carolina regiment, was bom in Granville 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


665 


county, July 9, 1845, son F. Morris, the senior 

member of the firm that first manufactured smoking 
tobacco at the town of Durham, now so widely noted for 
that industry. He was educated at Horner’s preparatory 
school at Oxford, and at Durham, where his parents 
moved in 1859. In March, 1863, before he had reached 
his eighteenth birthday, he volunteered as a private in 
Company C of the Sixth infantry, the old regiment of 
Colonels Fisher and Pender, then under the command of 
Col. S. McD. Tate. He participated in the North Caro¬ 
lina battles at Plymouth and Washington, and then, 
going into Virginia, was at Lynchburg when Hunter was 
driven from that post, took part in the Valley campaign 
under Early. During the winter of 1864-65 he fought in 
the trenches at Petersburg, took part in the battle of 
Burgess’ Mill, and was one of those in the heroic attack 
upon Hare’s Hill by Gordon’s command, in which part of 
the Federal line was taken. After fighting on the re¬ 
treat from Petersburg to Appomattox, he was with the 
last of the army under Lee. On his return home he 
found General Kilpatrick in command at Durham, and 
his father’s house in use as headquarters for that officer. 
Soon afterward he entered the tobacco manufacturing 
business with his father and continued until 1870. Sub¬ 
sequently he was connected for several years with the 
Blackwell factory, until he removed to Franklinton and 
engaged in mercantile business. In 1893 he was ap¬ 
pointed postmaster at that place, where he has also held 
the office of mayor three years and of justice of the peace 
eight years. He also for two years conducted a news¬ 
paper at Franklinton. By his marriage, in 1866, to Sarah 
A., daughter of Capt. W. H. Williams, of Franklinton, 
Mr. Morris has nine children: Leo C., in business at 
Wilson; Bertha, Minnie, Blanche, wife of T. W. Whed- 
bee, of Franklinton; Mary, wife of J. S. Morris, of Frank¬ 
linton; Robert Wilson, in the railway service at Durham; 
Carrie, Billie Dunn and Katie Bet. 

Captain Willis Wilson Morrisette, of Elizabeth City, 
was born in Camden county, N. C., January 19, 1839, the 
son of Tully Morrisette, a soldier of the war of 1812. 
Being of military age at the beginning of hostilities in 
the spring of 1861, Mr. Morrisette abandoned his occu¬ 
pation of teaching school to volunteer as a soldier of 


666 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


North Carolina and of the Confederate States. He en¬ 
listed as a private in the Seventh regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina volunteers, known later as the Seventeenth State 
troops. His service with this command was until its 
disbandment in the spring of 1862, when he re-enlisted 
in Company B, Sixty-eighth infantry, with the rank of 
lieutenant. About a year later he was unanimously 
elected captain of Company G of the same regiment, the 
rank which he held during the remainder of the war. 
He is remembered as a skillful and capable officer, who 
manifested undaunted courage in the face of danger. 
Among the battles in which he took an honorable part 
were those of Kinston, Bentonville and Cox’s Bridge. 
After the close of hostilities he engaged in farming and 
later conducted a store in Camden county, until 1872, 
when he was elected register of deeds of the latter 
county. He filled that office with credit for six years, 
and then was county commissioner for a considerable 
time. He made his home at Elizabeth City, as agent for 
Pettit’s steamboat line, in 1893. By his marriage, in 
1865, to Louise Seymour, of Camden county, Captain 
Morrisette has two children: Laura, wife of Dr. Ritter, 
of Mayock, and Clara, wife of S. B. Bartlett, of New¬ 
port News. 

Lieutenant Daniel F. Morrow, mayor of Burlington for 
several years past, a veteran of Lane’s North Carolina 
brigade, was born in Alamance county in 1842, son of 
John Morrow, a planter of that county. He was pre¬ 
pared for college at Bingham’s school, and was a student 
at the State university when he enlisted in the spring of 
1861, at the age of eighteen years, in Company G of the 
Twenty-eighth regiment, North Carolina troops. He was 
on duty at Wilmington until the spring of 1862, and then 
marched to New Bern and covered the retreat from Fort 
Macon. Then being transferred to Virginia, he took part 
in the battle of Hanover Court House (was taken pris¬ 
oner and held at Governor’s island and Fort Delaware 
for two months), Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, fight¬ 
ing on the first and third days of that battle; Bristoe Sta¬ 
tion and the skirmishes of the fall campaign of 1863; the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, 
Fair Oaks, and the frequent encounters and constant 
service on the Petersburg lines, until April, 1865. After 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


667 


the evacuation of the Confederate capital he was in the 
battle of Farmville and was surrendered at Appomattox. 
During this service he was wounded several times, but 
fortunately not severely. Entering the army as a private, 
he was promoted to sergeant in 1862, to third lieutenant 
in 1863, and to second and then to first lieutenant in the 
last year of the war. He has had a successful business 
career since his return to civil life, first in Orange county, 
and since 1890 at Burlington. The estimation in which 
Lieutenant Morrow is held by his fellow citizens is shown 
by his retention in the office of county commissioner for 
ten years, and his election and re-election as mayor of 
the city. By his marriage, in 1868, to Martha E., 
daughter of Brice Carter, of Alamance county, he has 
five children: Annie L., Mary Jessie, Charles H., Wil¬ 
liam R., and Paul E. Morrow. 

Lieutenant Elbert A. Moye, of Greenville, clerk of the 
superior court of Pitt county, was born in that county in 
1842, the grandson of George Moye, a soldier of the revo¬ 
lution. His Confederate service was rendered in the 
Eighth North Carolina regiment, in which he enlisted as 
a private of Company G, September 3, 1861. He rose 
through the grades of corporal and orderly-sergeant to 
second lieutenant, and was distinguished as a gallant sol¬ 
dier. He was first in battle at Roanoke island, and was 
there captured, paroled and exchanged. Subsequent 
prominent events in his military record were the battle of 
Goldsboro, the defense of Charleston and the skirmish on 
James island, the capture of Plymouth, the battles of 
Suffolk, Bermuda Hundred, Drewry’s Bluff and New 
Bern, the Chicamicomico expedition, fight between 
Kinston and New Bern, and Second Cold Harbor. He 
was captured at the latter battle and was confined at Fort 
Delaware until June 17, 1865. He was elected to the 
house of commons in 1876 and to the senate in 1878, 
and has held his present office since 1885. 

Francis Marion Moye, M. D., of Wilson, N. C., a prom¬ 
inent ex-Confederate, was born in Pitt county in 1839, 
was educated at Chapel Hill, and in medicine at the uni¬ 
versities of Pennsylvania, New York and Tennessee, 
being graduated at the latter institution in'1861. Re¬ 
turning to North Carolina, he enlisted as a private in the 


668 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


heavy artillery regiment of Col. John J. Hedrick. Later 
he was detailed as assistant surgeon, and served in that 
capacity until after the .fall of Fort Fisher, when he 
resumed his place in the ranks. He was with his com¬ 
mand at Petersburg, but, being compelled to return by 
illness, was not again able to be on duty except during 
a part of the closing operations in North Carolina. Since 
then he has resided in Wilson county, engaged in farm¬ 
ing and merchandise until about 1890, and subsequently 
giving his entire attention to the affairs of the Masonic 
order, in which he has held many exalted offices. 

Colonel Kenneth McKenzie Murchison, of Wilmington, 
was born near Fayetteville, N. C., February 18, 1831, the 
son of Duncan Murchison, a native of Scotland, who set¬ 
tled in North Carolina about 1760 and became prominent 
in the planting and manufacture of cotton. The eldest 
son, John R., enlisted early in the war in the Eighth 
regiment, won promotion to colonel, and was killed in the 
battle of Cold Harbor, June 6, 1864. A younger son, 
David Reid, served in the Seventeenth and Fifty-fourth 
regiments, and later was inspector-general of the com¬ 
missary department for the State, and for some time, 
subsequent to 1880, was the owner of the Carolina Cen¬ 
tral railroad. Colonel Murchison, the second son of 
Duncan, was graduated at Chapel Hill in 1853, and then 
engaged in business pursuits in New York city and Wil¬ 
mington until the spring of 1861, when he disposed of his 
business in the North, assisted in the organization of a com¬ 
pany at Fayetteville, and entered the service as second lieu¬ 
tenant. His command became Company C of the Eighth 
regiment, and was captured at Roanoke island, a disaster 
which Lieutenant Murchison escaped by his fortunate 
absence. He then organized another company in Cum¬ 
berland county, which was assigned to the Fifty-fourth 
regiment, with himself as captain. He was at once 
elected major upon the organization of the regiment, 
was soon promoted lieutenant-colonel, and after the 
death of Col. J. C. S. McDowell, at Fredericksburg, 
became the colonel of the regiment. He was specially 
commended for gallant service at Fredericksburg by Gen. 
E. M. Law, commander of his brigade. He commanded 
his regiment at Chancellorsville and in the battle of 
Winchester against Milroy, and subsequently was ordered 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


669 


to convey the prisoners taken on that occasion to Rich¬ 
mond, and, returning promptly to Winchester, served in 
guarding the wagon trains of Lee’s army. On July 6th, 
in command of his regiment, he gallantly repulsed the 
enemy’s advance on Williamsport. He served in Hoke’s 
brigade during the subsequent operations in Virginia, 
and when the brigade was cut off by the enemy at Rap¬ 
pahannock Station, November 7, 1863, he was among the 
captured. From that time he was held as a prisoner of war 
at Johnson’s island, Lake Erie, until July, 1865, an im¬ 
prisonment of twenty months. Upon his release he 
resumed business at New York and established branch 
houses at Wilmington and Fayetteville, doing an exten¬ 
sive banking business. Though a resident of New York, 
he spends the winter seasons at Wilmington, where he 
has large property interests, is the owner of a popular 
hotel, and has a beautiful home upon a large body of 
land embracing the site of the First St. Philip’s church. 

Cyrus Murphy, a Confederate veteran, residing at Fay¬ 
etteville, is a native of Cumberland county, born Septem¬ 
ber 11, 1842, son of William and Mary J. (Blue) Murphy. 
His family in both branches has been living in North 
Carolina since the revolutionary war, coming originally 
from Scotland. After receiving an education in the 
common schools, he engaged in farming and continued 
in that occupation until the outbreak of war, when he 
enlisted in Company K, Thirty-eighth regiment, North 
Carolina State troops. Beginning as a private, he was 
promoted sergeant-major in recognition of his good 
record as a soldier, in August, 1862. His regiment was 
part of Scales’ brigade and participated in the campaign 
before Richmond in June, 1862, and he shared its service 
in that bloody series of battles, as well as at Cedar mount¬ 
ain, the second battle of Manassas and Germantown, Sep¬ 
tember 9th. In the latter engagement he was severely 
wounded, receiving a ball in the leg, which is not yet 
extracted. Though disqualified for further service on 
the field, he continued on duty with the army and was 
put on detached service in the quartermaster’s depart¬ 
ment at Jackson, Northampton county. He returned 
home to Fayetteville finally, on furlough, just in time to 
be captured by Sherman’s troops, and he was then sent 
as a prisoner of war to Point Lookout, Md., and held 


670 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


until July, 1865. One of the atrocities of this period was 
the murder of his brother, Wellington. The latter, a 
brave Confederate soldier, had come home badly wounded, 
and when Sherman’s army entered Fayetteville, he was 
taken from the house by some of the Federal soldiers and 
shot through the head. Since the war Sergeant Murphy 
has been engaged in farming and teaching school. In 1894 
he was elected to the office of clerk of the superior court 
of Cumberland county. By his marriage, August 12, 1868, 
to Lucy A. Flolmes, he has seven children: Wellington 
A., Willie G., Lillie I., Stella A., Rosaline, Maude and 
Claude. 

Needham Whitley Musgrave, of Goldsboro, a survivor 
of the Twenty-seventh regiment, North Carolina troops, 
was born in Wayne county in 1842. In June, 1861, he 
enlisted in Company A of the Twenty-seventh regiment, 
as a private, and, with the forces under General Branch, 
had his first encounter with the enemy at New Bern. 
Reaching Richmond, Va., under the command of Col. 
John R. Cooke, during the battle of Seven Pines, he took 
part in the service of General Holmes’ command during 
the Seven Days’ battles, and afterward remained on 
duty near Petersburg and Richmond until the Maryland 
campaign, where his regiment was present at the capture 
of Harper’s Ferry and fought gallantly at Sharpsburg. 
Subsequently he took part in the battle of Fredericks¬ 
burg; and at Bristoe Station, where nearly all of his 
company were killed or wounded inside of a few minutes, 
he received a wound in the right foot which prevented 
further active duty. A few months later he began serv¬ 
ice in the quartermaster’s department with the army and 
continued in this up to the call for every man able to 
ride a horse to take the field, which he did as a member 
of Kennedy’s battalion. Soon afterward, being trans¬ 
ferred, he was sent home to procure horses, and was not 
able to rejoin his command before the surrender. After 
the capitulation at Greensboro he was paroled at Raleigh. 
Returning to his home he studied dentistry and practiced 
that profession about three years, but since then has 
given his attention entirely to farming. In 1892 he made 
his home at Goldsboro. He has served as chairman of 
the county board of education, and is now a trustee of the 
Greensboro school. In 1877 he was married to Marietta, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


671 


daughter of Thomas W. Yelverton. Thomas W. Mus- 
grave, a brother of the foregoing, served as a private in 
Company A of the same regiment until captured in the 
battle of the Wilderness, after which he was a prisoner 
of war. He died in 1869. 

Frederick Nash, for more than twenty-five years clerk 
and treasurer of the city of Charlotte, was born at Hills¬ 
boro, N. C., July 22, 1839. His ancestry has been con¬ 
spicuous in the history of the State, his father, Henry K. 
Nash, having been a lawyer and orator of widespread 
fame; his grandfather, Frederick Nash, having served 
as chief justice, and his great-grandfather, Abner Nash, 
having the honor of being the second governor of North 
Carolina. The brother of the latter, Francis Nash, was 
a brigadier-general in the revolutionary army and was 
killed at the battle of Germantown. By ancestral mar¬ 
riage, Frederick Nash is also descended from Gov. Wil¬ 
liam Bradford, who landed at Plymouth Rock from the 
Mayflower and became the second governor of Massa¬ 
chusetts colony. The subject of this sketch was educated 
at the university of North Carolina, and was admitted to 
the practice of law in i860. But in August, 1861, he 
abandoned his profession to enlist as a private in Com¬ 
pany G of the Twenty-seventh North Carolina regiment. 
Soon afterward he was detailed as secretary of the board 
of military claims for the State, the chairman of the 
board being Hon. B. F. Moore, and the other members 
Hon. S. F. Phillips, late solicitor-general of the United 
States, and Hon. P. H. Winston, father of the former 
president of the State university. In the latter part of 
1862 he rejoined his regiment and served in the ranks 
until October, 1863, when he was detailed upon the staff 
of General Kirkland and subsequently upon the staff of 
Gen. William MacRae. After the battle of Hatcher’s 
Run, October 27, 1864, he was appointed adjutant-gen¬ 
eral of Barton’s brigade, Custis Lee’s corps, the position 
which he held until the close of his service. He particn 
pated in numerous engagements with the enemy, notably 
the battles of Gum Swamp, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, 
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Burgess’ Mill, Reams’ 
Station (where he was slightly wounded), and the battles 
about Petersburg, until during the last retreat, three days 
before the surrender, in a sudden attack from a Federal 


672 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY ,. 


scouting party he was seriously wounded in the right leg. 
On the next day it became necessary to amputate the 
limb, seriously disabling him for life. He made his home 
at Charlotte, in 1871, and has ever since been one of the 
most respected citizens of the town. He is a member of 
Mecklenburg camp. By his marriage, in 1873, to Bettie 
M. Littlejohn, of Oxford, he has five children living. 

Lieutenant Joseph G. Neal, of Marion, for many years 
sheriff of McDowell county, of which he is a native, was 
born in 1842, the son of Joseph Neal, of Scottish birth. 
He entered the military service of the State as a private 
in the company of J. M. Neal, which, upon going into 
camp at Raleigh, was assigned to the Twelfth regiment, 
North Carolina volunteers, as Company B. This regi¬ 
ment was ordered into Virginia and Private Neal shared 
its services at Evansport, guarding the Potomac river, 
until the spring of 1862. Then he served in the defense 
of Yorktown, and, after the evacuation of that post, 
fought in the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines. 
Following the latter engagement he suffered a severe at¬ 
tack of pneumonia and was honorably discharged. Later 
in the course of the war, having recovered his health, he 
enlisted in the Forty-ninth regiment, Gen. M. W. Ran¬ 
som’s brigade, with which, in May, 1864, he was in the 
heat of battle at Drewry’s bluff and Bermuda Hundred, 
for a few days confronted Grant on the Chickahominy, 
and then took part in the famous battles of June 16th and 
17th before Petersburg. From this date until March 16, 
1865, just nine months, he was on duty in the Petersburg 
trenches, often not a hundred yards from the works of 
the enemy, constantly exposed to danger and death, as 
well as to cold and storm, through the dark and gloomy 
winter. During the greater part of this time he held the 
rank of lieutenant of Company B, Thirty-fifth regiment, 
with which he participated in the assault on Fort Sted- 
man, March 25, 1865. At the battle of Five Forks, April 
1 st, he was captured by the enemy, and soon afterward, 
being transferred to Johnson’s island, was held there as 
a prisoner of war until June 19, 1865. Several times 
during his career he suffered slight wounds. In 1871, 
Lieutenant Neal was appointed tax collector, and in 1872 
he was elected sheriff of his county. Such was his effi¬ 
ciency that he was retained in this office until his resig- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


673 


nation in 1890. From 1894 until November, 1897, he 
served as deputy collector. By his marriage, in 1866, to 
Rowena E. Weaver, he has six children living, Minnie 
N., widow of W. P. Blanton; Laura N., wife of John B. 
Newton; Lizzie, wife of Samuel H. Yancey; William W. 
Neal, of the United States war department; Bonnie, 
wife of Dr. Gay S. Kirby, and Leon Andrews. 

Lieutenant Marmaduke W. Norfleet was born in Cas¬ 
well county, N. C., June 10, 1839. When a boy he moved 
to Yanceyville, N. C., and in 1857, at the age of eighteen, 
was elected second lieutenant of the Yanceyville Grays, 
then just organized, and it was with this company he 
volunteered his services to the Confederate States in 
1861. His company was assigned as Company A, to the 
Thirteenth North Carolina regiment, and with this regi¬ 
ment he served until the spring of 1862, when, upon the 
resignation of Captain Graves, he was elected in his 
stead. But preferring not to part with his old friend and 
officer, he severed his connection with Company A, 
Thirteenth regiment, and was transferred with Captain 
Graves to Company A, Forty-seventh North Carolina 
regiment, as second lieutenant, and with this regiment 
he served until Gettysburg, where he went down seri¬ 
ously wounded in a hand-to-hand conflict. How well he 
served may best be told in the simple words of the faith¬ 
ful old negro, who was servant to him until he was taken 
prisoner: “He was a good soldier and a Christian gen¬ 
tleman, and conducted himself as such at all times dur¬ 
ing the time I was with him.” He was taken from Get¬ 
tysburg to a United States hospital on Bedloe island, and 
after his partial recovery was moved to David’s island 
prison and then to Johnson’s island, where he remained 
until the following summer, when he was again moved 
to Point Lookout, and later to Fort Delaware, from 
which place he was paroled in September, 1864. He 
was never exchanged and so could not return to the army. 
Miss Ellen Kirkpatrick, the girl who had watched and 
waited for his coming through all the years of war, chose 
to share his fate and become his wife. Eight children 
blessed a happy union. Two daughters, five sons and his 
loved and honored wife survive him, for on September 
27, 1890, he crossed “over the river to rest under the 
shade of the trees’’ with comrades gone before. All 


674 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


of his family reside in Winston, N. C., where his sons 
are prominently connected in business, all of whom live 
to honor his memory. 

Captain William Harris Northrop, a prominent business 
man of Wilmington, who served in the Confederate cause 
in various capacities throughout the war, was born at 
that city in 1836 and there reared and educated, In 1855 
he became a member of the State military organization, 
known as the Wilmington light infantry, with which he was 
on duty before the secession of the State at Fort Caswell 
and later at Fort Fisher. In June, 1865, he was commis¬ 
sioned lieutenant and assigned to the Third North Caro¬ 
lina, then stationed at Aquia creek, on the Potomac. He 
served in the line about eighteen months and was then 
commissioned captain quartermaster. After six months 
of this duty, with his regiment he was transferred to the 
Second corps, engineer troops, and stationed at Wilming- 
ton and vicinity. After the evacuation of that city he was 
attached to the staff of General Bragg until the surrender. 
Among the engagements in which he participated were 
Aquia Creek on the Potomac, the Seven Days’ battles 
before Richmond, Frederick City, Boonsboro and Sharps- 
burg, Md., and Bentonville, N. C. Both as a company 
officer and a staff officer his service was marked by 
bravery and entire devotion to the cause. Since the close 
of hostilities Captain Northrop has constantly resided at 
Wilmington, where he is regarded as one of the reliable 
business men and leading citizens. 

Captain John M. Odell, of Concord, one of the promi¬ 
nent manufacturers of the South, was born in Randolph 
county, January 20, 1831. He is the son of James Odell 
and Anna Trogden, the latter being the granddaughter 
of Solomon Trogden, who emigrated to America before 
the revolutionary war, in which he served as a soldier. 
Captain Odell engaged in manufacturing cotton before 
the period of civil war, and served at that time as 
postmaster at Cedar Falls. When the State seceded and 
it became necessary to organize troops for her military 
defense, he was active in the work, and being prominent 
in the formation of a company was elected captain. 
This was assigned to the Twelfth volunteer regi¬ 
ment, commanded by Colonel Pettigrew, as Company M. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


675 


This was afterward known as the Twenty-second regi¬ 
ment. Captain Odell was identified with its record in 
Virginia, under the gallant Pettigrew, in Holmes’ bri¬ 
gade, on duty on the Potomac river, and on the penin¬ 
sula, up to and including the battle of Seven Pines. He 
then, on the expiration of his enlistment, being in feeble 
health, returned to North Carolina and resumed his work 
as a manufacturer, in which he could more effectually 
aid in the work of supporting the newly organized repub¬ 
lic. His brother, Laban Odell, who entered the service 
as a lieutenant in the Twenty-second regiment, contin¬ 
ued in the field, was promoted to major for gallantry at 
Fredericksburg, and was killed at Chancellorsville. Cap¬ 
tain Odell has prospered in his enterprises since the war, 
and is now proprietor of the Odell cotton mills, of Con¬ 
cord, probably the largest manufactory of the kind in the 
State. By his marriage, in 1853, to Rebecca C. Kirk- 
man, he has two children living: W. R. Odell and Ollie 
M., wife of S. J. Durham. In 1891 he was married 
to Mrs. Addie Allison White, daughter of R. W. Alli¬ 
son, 

Charles J. O’Hagan, M. D., surgeon of the Thirty-fifth 
North Carolina infantry, now a prominent physician of 
Greenville, was born in the county of Londonderry, Ire¬ 
land, in 1821, and came to America in 1842, making his 
home at Greenville. He studied medicine, was gradu¬ 
ated at the New York medical college, and left his prac¬ 
tice in the spring of 1861 to become first lieutenant of 
Company H, Twenty-seventh regiment. In July follow¬ 
ing he resigned this rank, and entering the medical 
department was assigned as assistant surgeon to the 
First North Carolina cavalry. In May, 1862, he was 
transferred to the Thirty-fifth regiment and promoted 
surgeon, the capacity in which he served during the 
remainder of the war. He was devoted to the men of 
his commands, and was with them under fire in the bat¬ 
tles near Vienna, Dranesville, Sharpsburg, the Seven 
Days before Richmond, Fredericksburg, Little Washing¬ 
ton, N. C., Drewry’s Bluff, served in the lines at Peters¬ 
burg from June 17, 1864, until the evacuation, and was 
in the final conflicts at Five Forks, Sailor’s Creek and 
Appomattox. 


Nc 66 


676 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


Captain William H. Oliver, of New Bern, was born at 
that city in 1829. He married Hannah Taylor Attmore, 
daughter of George S. Attmore, a distinguished lawyer 
and bank president. He was the son of Samuel Oliver, 
who was a native-born citizen of New Bern, and during 
his life he resided in New Bern. Not only Mr. Oliver’s 
father, but his ancestors for four generations previous 
have been natives of the city. The first of the family at 
New Bern was John Oliver, who settled in 1720, and the 
line descends through John Oliver, second, Joseph 
Oliver, Samuel Oliver, to the subject of this sketch. At 
the age of nineteen years he engaged in mercantile pur¬ 
suits, and during the years succeeding prospered in busi¬ 
ness. When the State began an organization for the 
impending war, in April, 1861, his sagacity and experi¬ 
ence as a business man were called into use by his appoint¬ 
ment as quartermaster, with the rank of captain. In 
this capacity he served at New Bern until the evacuation 
of the city, when he continued the same services at Gra¬ 
ham until the spring of 1863. He was then commis¬ 
sioned by Governor Vance as agent for the State to pur¬ 
chase cotton for blockade-running purposes, with instruc¬ 
tions to buy every bale available at the price of twenty 
cents per pound. He first gathered up all the cotton in 
most danger of seizure by the enemy, and in a short time 
had purchased about 7,000 bales. A large part of this 
was shipped to England and there sold by John White, 
of Warrenton, the agent of the State in that country, and 
with the proceeds were purchased the steamship Lord 
Clyde, afterward known as the Advance, and a great 
quantity of clothing and other supplies for the army. 
Some of the cotton was manufactured at home into cloth 
and yarn, and the latter Captain Oliver exchanged in 
Virginia for leather. After this duty was performed he 
rendered further services of a similar nature as special 
agent of the State until the close of the war, when he 
was surrendered with the army at Greensboro. Subse¬ 
quently he engaged in buying cotton, and three years 
later entered the insurance business, his present occupa¬ 
tion. He is one of the leading citizens of New Bern, has 
served several terms as councilman, and prepared the act 
of the general assembly, passed in 1897, which fixed the 
correct title of the city as New Bern. In 1896, when 
John B. Pioda, minister to the United States from Switz- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 677 

erland, brought to New Bern a beautiful silk flag pre¬ 
sented by the old city of Bern, Mr. Oliver took a promi¬ 
nent part in the social functions, and in return was hand¬ 
somely entertained by the Swiss minister at the Swiss 
legation during a subsequent visit to Washington. By his 
marriage, in 1854, to Hannah T., daughter of George S. 
Attmore, a prominent lawyer, who died in 1861, he has 
five children: George Attmore, Elizabeth Gettic, wife of 
Martin Williard, Mary Taylor, Hannah Attmore, wife of 
Capt. R. B. Huske, and Martha Harvey, wife of Thomas 
M. Constable. 

Colonel Edwin Augustus Osborne, of the Fourth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina State troops, now a minister of the 
Protestant Episcopal church, resident at Charlotte, was 
born in Laurens county, Ala., May 6, 1837. His father, 
Dr. Ephraim Brevard Osborne, in early life a soldier of 
the war of 1812, was the son of Col. Adlai Osborne, of 
the colonial militia of North Carolina, whose wife was 
Margaret, daughter of Gen. Thomas Lloyd, of the same 
service. His mother was Nancy, daughter of John 
Smith, a planter, who emigrated from Westmoreland 
county, Va., early in the present century. At the age of 
twenty-one years Mr. Osborne returned to the native State 
of his ancestors and completed his education in the States¬ 
ville military academy, which he left in the spring of 
1861, as lieutenant of a company organized among the 
students. This became Company C of the Fourth regi¬ 
ment, Col. G. B. Anderson, and two months after the 
organization of the regiment he was promoted to captain 
of Company H. In this rank he served in the Peninsular 
campaign, and was severely wounded at Seven Pines. 
Rejoining his command on the day of the Second Manas¬ 
sas battle, he took part in the subsequent engagements 
at South mountain and Sharpsburg, in the latter receiv¬ 
ing another severe wound which disabled him for four 
months. After taking part in the battle of Chancellors- 
ville he was promoted major, in which rank he served at 
Gettysburg and the Wilderness, and at Spottsylvania 
Court House was again seriously wounded. He was 
again on duty in November, 1864, and was promoted 
lieutenant-colonel and shortly afterward colonel, but his 
last wound proved obstinate in healing and he was not 
able to remain steadily on duty. The wound did not 


678 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


heal permanently until a year or more after the close of 
the war. After teaching school at Statesville and Char¬ 
lotte for a short time, he became clerk of the superior 
court of Mecklenburg county. During his nearly ten years 
tenure of this office he studied law and was admitted to the 
bar, but when he resigned in 1875, he devoted himself to 
the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal church. His 
most notable work in this connection has been the organ¬ 
ization of the Thompson orphanage and training insti¬ 
tution, of which he has served as superintendent since 
1887. He has held the office of chaplain of the Mecklen¬ 
burg camp since its organization. He also served as 
chaplain of the Second regiment of North Carolina vol¬ 
unteers, which was enlisted for the war with Spain. 
March 17, 1865, he was married to Fannie Moore, of Wil¬ 
mington, and they have seven children living. 

Edward Ralph Outlaw, one of the most influential cit¬ 
izens of Bertie county, and a gallant veteran of the Con¬ 
federate service, was born in that county, November 30, 
1840. At the beginning of the Confederate war he was 
a student at the university of North Carolina, at Chapel 
Hill, but he promptly abandoned his books, and in April, 
1861, enlisted as a private in Company L of the First 
regiment of volunteers, under Col. D. H. Hill. When 
that regiment was disbanded he assisted in organizing a 
company in Bertie county, which was mustered in on 
February 23, 1862, with himself as second lieutenant, and 
it became Company C of the Eleventh regiment, North 
Carolina State troops. He continued in this rank until 
after the battle of Gettysburg, where on the first day his 
company lost 34 out of 38 men engaged, including two 
lieutenants, the orderly-sergeant, and all the corporals. 
On the third day he and his three comrades surviving 
participated in the charge of Cemetery hill. He was 
then promoted to captain of the recruited company, and 
continued in that rank until he was surrendered at 
Appomattox. Among the battles in which he took part 
were Franklin, Va., Whitehall, N. C., Hagerstown, Fall¬ 
ing Waters, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania 
Court House, Cold Harbor, siege of Petersburg, Reams’ 
Station and Burgess’ Mill. Since the war Captain Out¬ 
law’s occupation has been that of a farmer in Bertie 
county. In 1869, being elected sheriff, he served one 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


679 


term, and being again elected in 1880, he served until 
1889. During this period he also acted as treasurer of 
the county and rendered memorable service. Finding 
the county orders selling at the heavy discount of 25 to 
50 cents on the dollar, he immediately brought them to 
par by personally guaranteeing them and paying them 
out of his own funds, and his financial administration was 
so excellent that in two years he had the floating debt of 
the county paid and money in the treasury. By election, 
in 1888, he served one year in the State legislature. For 
sixteen years he has been chairman of the Democratic 
executive committee of his county. Fie has been a friend 
of the Confederate soldier since the war, and was the first 
president of the Veterans association of his county. In 
1868 Captain Outlaw was married to Lucy Roscoe, and 
they have nine children living: Janie, wife of W. H. 
Hunt, of Oxford; Lucy, Lizzie, Alice, Edward, Mary 
Miller, John, David and Alexander. 

Colonel William A. Owens, who fell while gallantly 
leading Daniel’s old brigade, at Snicker’s Gap, Va., July 
19, 1864, was born at Charlotte, N. C., in September, 
1833. His parents were Henry C. and Jane E. (Allison) 
Owens, both natives of North Carolina. He was edu¬ 
cated at the university of North Carolina, with gradua¬ 
tion in 1856, and then completing the study of law, 
beginning the practice of his profession at his native town. 
On November 24, 1857, he was married to Alice Brandon 
Caldwell, only daughter of Hon. G. W. Caldwell, a mem¬ 
ber of Congress from North Carolina in that period. She 
was of patriotic stock, her father having commanded a 
company and gained the brevet of major in the Mexican 
war, and her grandfather, Samuel Caldwell, having served 
as a captain in the revolutionary war. She could not do 
other, then, than cheer her husband in his patriotic deter¬ 
mination, when early in 1861 he abandoned a lucrative 
practice, the mayoralty of the city and the office of 
county solicitor, to enter the military service. He had 
carefully studied military tactics as soon as war was 
feared, and became a capable officer though without 
practical training. He was first orderly-sergeant of the 
Hornet’s Nest Riflemen, one of the earliest companies, 
and soon became its captain, serving in that capacity with 
the First regiment, to which it was assigned, and taking 


680 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


part in the battle of Big Bethel. After the expiration of 
the six months’ enlistment, while engaged in organizing 
an artillery company at Charlotte, he was elected major 
of a North Carolina regiment, two months later lieuten¬ 
ant-colonel of the Eleventh regiment, and in May, 1862, 
colonel of the Fifty-third regiment. Thereafter he was 
prominently and gallantly associated with the record of 
the brigade of Gen. Junius Daniel, throughout the cam¬ 
paigns in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, until he 
was wounded at Spottsylvania Court House on May 12, 
1864. He was disabled for some time and had just 
returned from home to his brigade, of which he took 
command, Daniel having died from wounds received at 
Spottsylvania, when he was called upon to lead his men 
into battle at Snicker’s Gap, which the brigade had 
reached en route to reinforce General Early. In this 
action, on the same day of his return to service, he was 
mortally wounded. His successor, Colonel Coward, 
reported: “Colonel Owens was as gallant an officer as 
his State had in the service. Our service lost much in 
the fall of this officer.” His regimental successor, Col. 
James T. Morehead, has said of him: “He was a good 
officer, brave, humane, social, popular with both men 
and officers.” His remains were brought back to Char¬ 
lotte and interred with full honors. The widow of Col¬ 
onel Owens is still living at Charlotte, devoted to his 
memory. 

Captain Owen A. Palmer, a prosperous landholder and 
farmer, residing at Gulf, N. C., rendered faithful service 
during the Confederate war as a soldier and officer of the 
Third North Carolina cavalry. He was born May 22, 
1833, son of J. J. Palmer, a native of Chatham county 
and grandson of a settler from England who served as 
surveyor of the State. His mother was Elizabeth, 
daughter of Murdoch McQueen, and granddaughter of 
Hugh McQueen, who held the rank of colonel during the 
Mexican war and was distinguished in that contest. 
Captain Palmer was well educated in youth, finishing his 
studies at Trinity college, where, however, he did not 
remain for graduation. He then entered upon the 
charge of a farm and continued in that occupation until 
the secession of his State. Earnestly supporting the 
Confederate cause, he enlisted in Company E of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


681 


Third regiment of cavalry, commanded by Colonel 
Baker, and was first in battle at New Bern. He was 
subsequently identified with the career of his command, 
in North Carolina and in the campaigns of the army of 
Northern Virginia, rising in rank by virtue of gallantry 
and devotion to captain of his company. In the Seven 
Days’ battles before Richmond, and in the many impor¬ 
tant engagements that followed, he was in the thick of 
the fight, but fortunately escaped without wounds or cap¬ 
ture. His service did not end until he was surrendered 
with General Lee at Appomattox. Since then he has 
resided upon his farm, devoted to agriculture, prospering 
in his enterprises, and honored by the community as a 
worthy soldier and a generous and hospitable man. 

Captain Edward S. Parker was born in Cumberland 
county, that part now Harnett county, N. C., in the year 
1838. His father’s name was Anthony Parker, and his 
mother’s maiden name was Eliza Surles. His advantages 
in the way of education were poor. He was for a short 
time a pupil in the school of Gen. A. D. McLean, in 
Summerville in his native county, and later he was a 
pupil in a school taught by John W. Stuart, at Leach- 
burg, Johnston county. He obtained license to practice 
law in the courts of pleas and quarter sessions, com¬ 
monly called county courts, just before the civil war. He 
went to Goldsboro, and for a year or so was in the office 
of the late Judge George V. Strong, who then lived in 
that place. In that town he became a member of the 
Goldsboro Rifles, a company of the State volunteers. 
On Monday after the fall of Fort Sumter this company 
was ordered to Fort Macon, and on the Tuesday follow¬ 
ing, it and other volunteer companies of the State took 
possession of the fort. This was more than a month 
before the secession of the State. Later Captain Parker 
became a member of Company H, Second regiment 
North Carolina State troops, commanded by Col. C. C. 
Tew. The first ten regiments of North Carolina troops 
were designated as North Carolina State troops, because 
they volunteered at the start for three years or the war. 
He went with his regiment to Virginia and remained with 
it till 1862, when upon the organization of the Fiftieth 
regiment he was made commissary with the rank of cap¬ 
tain. While occupying this position, and with his regi- 


682 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ment in North Carolina, under Gen. D. H. Hill, he was 
taken prisoner and carried to old Fort Norfolk, where he 
and other Confederate officers were held in close confine¬ 
ment upon very scant rations, and informed that they 
were held as hostages for a Federal general named 
Straight and his officers, who had been captured in Ala¬ 
bama commanding and recruiting negro soldiers, and 
against whom the governor of that State was about to 
proceed for violation of the law forbidding the inciting 
of insurrection among slaves, the penalty of the crime 
being death. After being so held for weeks, without 
any communication from the outside world, he and his 
fellow prisoners, numbering ninety-odd Confederate 
officers, from the rank of colonel to lieutenant, were put 
upon a transport, named Maple Leaf, and under guard 
of a company of Federal soldiers, they started for Fort 
Delaware. While scarcely out of sight of Fortress Mon¬ 
roe, these prisoners, in midday, in the presence of their 
guards, planned and captured the entire company sent 
as guards over them, and took possession of the vessel. 
Of the prisoners, who thus released themselves, and took 
captive the vessel and their guards, some were suffering 
from sickness and others from wounds received in battle, 
so that only 76 were able to undertake an actual escape. 
The Federal soldiers were paroled and the captain prom¬ 
ised to go on to Fort Delaware before reporting, and the 
76 Confederate officers were put ashore by means of small 
boats about eight or ten miles south of Cape Henry light¬ 
house. This was just before night on the 9th of June, 
1863. About all they knew was that they had the Atlan¬ 
tic ocean in their rear and the Federal army in their 
front. They walked down the beach to Currituck sound, 
in North Carolina, and got some salt makers to put them 
across. They soon found that their escape had been 
reported, as soon as the vessel could return to Norfolk, 
and that Federal cavalry was after them. In the low¬ 
lands of northeastern North Carolina they found as loyal, 
big-hearted people as live upon this earth, and they were 
by them concealed by day in the dense forests and piloted 
by night by short stages in the direction of the Confeder¬ 
ate lines, until at the expiration of from ten days to two 
weeks, they all reached safety from recapture. They 
were in three squads, each under a different guide and 
leader from the faithful Confederates in the Federal 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


683 


lines. They all met at Weldon, N. C., not a man miss¬ 
ing, and parted for their several commands. Among 
these escaped officers were representatives from nearly 
every Southern State, including the border States of 
Missouri and Kentucky. While they lay concealed by 
day and moved only by night, to evade the Federal 
forces after them, they were fed by the good people of 
the counties through which they passed on the best that 
could be procured, and in the greatest abundance. Even 
the ladies came into the deep woods to bring cheer and 
food to the hunted Confederate officers as they bivou¬ 
acked under the moss-draped trees of swamp and low¬ 
lands. After the war Captain Parker engaged in other 
pursuits than the law till 1869, when he moved to Ala¬ 
mance county, where he now lives in the town of Gra¬ 
ham, the county seat, and practices his profession. Pie 
married Miss Ellen Northam, of Smith field, in Johnston 
county, and they have three living children, two sons and 
a daughter. He was solicitor for the Fifth judicial dis¬ 
trict from 1891 to 1894, inclusive, and was elected to the 
State senate in 1896. 

Colonel Francis Marion Parker, of the Thirtieth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina State troops, was born in Nash 
county, N. C., September 21, 1827. He was reared at 
Tarboro and was educated in several of the famous acad¬ 
emies of that period, receiving military training at the 
school of J. M. Lovejoy. His father dying as he was 
about to enter the university, he took charge of the home 
farm, and in December, 1851, was married to Sarah, 
daughter of Dr. James J. Phillips. In 1853 he removed 
to his present farm residence on Fishing creek, near 
Ringwood, Halifax county. During the John Brown 
raid excitement of 1859 he was elected second lieutenant 
of a volunteer company, called the Enfield Blues, which 
maintained its organization and went into camp at 
Raleigh, April 28, 1861, upon the call of Governor Ellis. 
This organization became Company I of the First regi¬ 
ment, under Col. D. H. Hill, and behaved well under 
fire at the battle of Big Bethel, Va. In August, Lieu¬ 
tenant Parker was elected captain, and on October 17th, 
upon the organization of the Thirtieth regiment, he 
was elected colonel of that command. In the spring of 
1862 he led his regiment on skirmish duty, at Seven 


684 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Pines and through the Seven Days’ battles, with consid¬ 
erable loss, in the brigade of Gen. G. B. Anderson. In 
September he was with Hill’s division at South mountain 
and Sharpsburg, where he narrowly escaped death, a 
rifle ball striking his head and laying bare the brain. 
Many months elapsed before he could resume command 
of his regiment, and then under the brigade command of 
General Ramseur he fought at Chancellorsville. The 
division under command of R. E. Rodes had a conspic¬ 
uous part in the flank attack where Jackson received his 
mortal injury, and on the following morning the Thir¬ 
tieth supported Pegram’s battery and then moved 
through the thick woods and assailed the enemy behind 
breastworks, making a hand-to-hand fight in which 
the bayonet was used freely, and capturing many prison¬ 
ers. Subsequently it encountered a flanking column 
which it drove from the field, protecting Ramseur’s bri¬ 
gade from disaster, for which General Ramseur person¬ 
ally thanked the gallant colonel. The brigade reached 
the field of Gettysburg about 2 p. m. on the first day, 
and advancing forced the Federals from the stone fences 
and through the village. While standing on one of these 
fences Colonel Parker received a very painful wound in 
the face, which nearly blinded and entirely disabled him 
for a considerable time. On May 4, 1864, he again 
rejoined his regiment on the Rapidan, and on the next 
day went into battle in the Wilderness. He participated 
with gallantry in this terrific struggle, and at Spottsyl- 
vania Court House, May 12th, led his regiment in the 
famous charge of the North Carolinians, in which the dis¬ 
tinguished Gen. Junius Daniel fell. Finally, on May 
19th, during Ewell’s flank attack on Grant, Colonel 
Parker received his third severe wound, this time through 
the body, which disqualified him for further duty in the 
field. By direction of General Lee he was assigned to 
light duty and reported, after his recovery, to General 
Holmes, at Raleigh, as commandant of the post. He 
surrendered at Greensboro as senior officer of the invalid 
corps. But for his frequent severe wounds he would 
doubtless have been honored with much higher com¬ 
mand, for which he had proved his fitness on several 
occasions. General Lee once sent him word that his 
head was too big, referring in a jocular way to the two 
nearly mortal wounds he had received in that part of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


685 


body. Since the war he has led a quiet and happy life 
as a farmer, and has reared a family of five boys, one of 
whom is now in the United States navy, and a daughter, 
Mary, wife of John Battle, deceased. 

Walter Scott Parker, one of the leading business men 
of Henderson, was born in Wilson county, N. C., and 
was educated at Trinity college. Though but a boy 
during the period of the Confederate war, he shouldered 
a musket in 1864 and served in the defense of his State. 
In 1867 he began his career as a merchant in a modest 
way, and in 1882 opened a retail business at Henderson. 
Five years later he became a pioneer in the wholesale 
grocery trade in his city. He is also the organizer of the 
cotton manufacturing industry at Roanoke Rapids, estab¬ 
lished in 1895, and has other important financial and com¬ 
mercial interests. By his marriage, in 1876, to Miss 
Lucy Closs, he has three children, Fanny C., Willie C. and 
Lucy Closs. Mrs. Parker is the daughter of Rev. Wil¬ 
liam Closs, D. D., for fifty years one of the most promi¬ 
nent ministers of the Methodist church South. Her 
grandfather, Daniel Closs, was a soldier of the war of 
1812, and bore to the day of his death a bullet received 
at the battle of Crany Island, near Norfolk. Her brother, 
Lieut. William A. Closs, was born in Lewisburg, June 
23, 1843, and was educated at the male academy at that 
place and at the military school at Wilson, conducted by 
Rev. Charles F. Deems, D. D., late pastor of the Church 
of the Strangers, New York. In the spring of 1861 he 
left school and became a drill-master at Garysburg, and 
on May 16th was commissioned a lieutenant in Company 
E, Seventh regiment, Lane’s brigade. He took part in 
the battle of New Bern, and then going to Virginia went 
into the bloody struggle against McClellan’s army of 
invasion. In a letter, written about this time to the 
loved ones at home, he assured his father that he would 
not act rashly in the impending battle, as that would not 
be the part of a hero, but whether the issue should be 
one of life or death for him, all would be well, as he saw 
a bright hope of glorious victory beyond the skies. In 
the battle at Gaines’ Mill, June 27, 1862, after winning 
promotion by distinguished gallantry on the field, he fell 
dead with his face to the foe, and was buried by his sor¬ 
rowing comrades near the scene of conflict. His captain, 


638 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


William Lee Davidson, testified in a letter of sympathy to 
his family that Lieutenant Gloss was a brave and gallant 
boy, beloved and respected by all the officers of the regi¬ 
ment. His memory is an inspiration to Mrs. Parker in 
her labor of love as president of the Vance county chap¬ 
ter, Daughters of the Confederacy, and fifth vice-presi¬ 
dent of the North Carolina division of that patriotic 
society. 

Lieutenant William Fletcher Parker, of Enfield, Hali¬ 
fax county, was born November 6, 1842, in that county, 
was given his preparatory education in the school of 
J. H. Horner, and was a student at the university of 
North Carolina in 1861 and 1862. In the latter year he 
enlisted in Company F, Seventh Confederate cavalry, a 
regiment composed of five Georgia and five North Caro¬ 
lina companies. He was elected third lieutenant of his 
company and subsequently was promoted to second lieu¬ 
tenant. His command was on the Blackwater in Virginia 
from the summer of 1862 to the summer of 1863, on con¬ 
stant picket duty and in frequent skirmishes, the most 
important of which were at Zuni. Returning to North 
Carolina, it was on picket duty from Cape Fear to White 
Oak rivers, and was then ordered to Kenansville, where 
in the fall of 1863 it narrowly escaped capture. Soon 
afterward the regiment participated in the capture of 
Newport barracks and had the satisfaction of regaining 
a number of the arms lost at Kenansville. While in 
winter quarters at Garysburg, the North Carolina com¬ 
panies of the regiment were united with Virginia com¬ 
panies to form the regiment of Colonel (later brigadier- 
general) Dearing, which in the spring of 1864 participated 
in the capture of Plymouth, invested Washington and 
was in the force that attempted the capture of New Bern. 
At Croatan, Dearing’s command captured a garrison of 
Federals. From New Bern they were hurried to Peters¬ 
burg to resist the advance of Butler, and arriving there 
were at once sent against the Kautz and Wilson cavalry 
raiders. At Blacks-and-Whites the North Carolina troop¬ 
ers, under Gen. W. H. F. Lee, met the enemy, and again 
at Reams’ Station, and aided in the utter rout of the 
enemy. Frequent skirmishes and battles followed, the 
most important of which were those at Battery No. 7, 
Peeble’s Farm, Burgess’ Mill and the Boiseau house, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


687 


near Five Forks. Dearing’s regiment was in the famous 
cattle raid which secured 2,485 fine beef cattle from 
Grant’s supply near City Point. The regiment took up 
its march April 2d, which ended at Appomattox, on 
April 9, 1865. The North Carolina companies of Dear¬ 
ing’s regiment were then known as the Sixteenth battal¬ 
ion, North Carolina cavalry (also entitled the Seventy- 
fifth North Carolina troops), W. P. Roberts’ brigade. 
On the 3d the battalion was instrumental in checking a 
dangerous stampede, for which it was personally compli¬ 
mented by General Lee and other high officers. At Jet- 
ersville it was conspicuous in the effort of the army to 
turn south toward Danville; and after that it was in con¬ 
stant combat on the rear until Appomattox was reached. 
Lieutenant Parker was in every battle and skirmish of 
any consequence in which his company took part, and 
was the greater part of the time in command of it. In a 
skirmish at City Point his clothing was pierced by a minie 
ball, his saber scabbard indented, and his horse wounded. 
At Battery No. 7, fighting Grant’s advance before Peters¬ 
burg, he escaped from a hand-to-hand struggle, in 
which two of his comrades were killed by his side. 
At Amelia Court House his horse was again wounded 
under him, but he was spared during the war from per¬ 
sonal injury. While at Kenansville, N. C., he was dan¬ 
gerously sick with typhoid fever, and was tenderly pro¬ 
vided for by Miss Elizabeth J. Herring, to whom he was 
married about the close of the war. Since the close of 
hostilities he has been engaged in farming and manu¬ 
facturing, and has held for twelve years the office of 
county treasurer. He has one child living, the wife of 
B. D. Mann. 

John M. Parks, of Statesville, a survivor of the Twenti¬ 
eth regiment, was born in Cabarrus county in 1836, son 
of Levi Parks, and grandson of Robert Parks, both 
natives of the old North State. He entered the military 
service as a private in the Cabarrus Black Boys, com¬ 
manded by Capt. I. B. Atwell, which was assigned as 
Company B to the Twentieth regiment, North Carolina 
volunteers, at its organization in June, under command 
of Col. Albert Iverson, who was at a later date promoted 
brigadier-general. Atwell’s company, Company B, had 
been organized for a year before enlistment, and became 


688 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


distinguished for soldierly conduct. Private Parks soon 
earned promotion to orderly-sergeant, and after the bat¬ 
tle of Chancellorsville was recommended for promotion 
to captain on account of gallant service. He was first 
on duty in North Carolina at Fort Johnson and Fort Cas¬ 
well, at the mouth of Cape Fear river, early in the spring 
of 1862 was ordered to Fort Fisher and then returned to 
the fortifications, whence, in June, 1862, the regiment 
was ordered to Virginia and assigned to Garland’s bri¬ 
gade. The Twentieth served with distinction in the bat¬ 
tles of Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill, 
Company B losing 46 men in that campaign; and during 
the remainder of 1862 was in battle at Second Manassas, 
South Mountain, Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. At 
the famous battle of Chancellorsville, as has been indi¬ 
cated, Sergeant Parks was a gallant participant, fighting 
in the battles of the 1st, 2d and 3d of May, and that sum¬ 
mer he marched into Pennsylvania with the regiment, 
and on the 1st of July took part in the fierce encounter 
with the enemy which resulted in victory for the North¬ 
ern army. The price which his company paid for this 
victory was the loss of 29 men out of 35 engaged. 
Sergeant Parks was one of the woimded, being shot in 
the head and so severely injured that he fell into the 
hands of the enemy. He was carried to Fort McHenry, 
thence to Fort Delaware, and in October, 1863, was trans¬ 
ferred to Point Lookout, where he was a prisoner until 
May 1, 1864. Returning to Richmond he was given a 
furlough, and as soon as he had regained his strength he 
rejoined his regiment, then at Staunton under the com¬ 
mand of General Early, and about to make the celebrated 
campaign through Maryland. He took part in the battle 
of Monocacy and the engagement at Frederick City, Md., 
the demonstration before Washington city, and on the 
return to the Shenandoah valley fought at Winchester, 
July 20, 1864, and was severely wounded in the leg. He 
lay on the field all afternoon without attention, and was 
then carried to a temporary Federal hospital, where his 
leg was amputated. He lay in hospital in Maryland until 
October, and was then taken to Wheeling and from there 
to the Camp Chase prison at Columbus, Ohio, where 
during that winter he slept on a board bunk with one 
small blanket for covering. In March, 1865, he was car¬ 
ried to Maryland and held at Point Lookout until June, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


689 


1865, when he was finally paroled. Since then Mr. Parks 
has been engaged in farming, and now owns plantations 
in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties, though making 
his home at Statesville. 

Colonel William Murdoch Parsley was born in Wil¬ 
mington, N. C., October 6, 1840. He was the second 
son of Mr. O. G. Parsley, a prominent citizen, holding 
at various times high positions of trust and honor. Mr. 
Parsley was owner and manager of a large sawmill and 
extensive lumber trade, and in 1858 his son was taken 
into the business and sent as supercargo of a vessel to the 
West Indies. In i860 he was made a partner in the firm 
of O. G. Parsley & Co. In April, 1861, he entered the 
Confederate service and fought all through the war in the 
Third regiment, North Carolina infantry, one of the ten 
regiments authorized by the constitutional convention, 
enlisted “for the war.” He was commissioned captain 
of Company F, which was organized in Wilmington and 
equipped by Mr. Parsley, senior. He served with his 
regiment in Jackson’s corps, which was afterward Ewell’s 
and then Gordon’s. The regiment assembled in Garys- 
burg in May, 1861, and was sent from there to Aquia 
creek, in which vicinity it went into winter quarters. In 
the spring of 1862 it was ordered to Goldsboro to meet 
an expected attack of the enemy from New Bern, N. C. 
Ordered back to Richmond it arrived too late for the bat¬ 
tle of Seven Pines, but took part in all the Seven Days’ 
fights around Richmond, Mechanicsville being the first 
regular battle, followed by Cold Harbor and White Oak 
Swamp. At Malvern hill, July 1st, Captain Parsley was 
severely wounded by a minie ball, which entering just 
below the left ear, came out at the center of the back of 
the neck. He reached home within a few days. During 
his convalescence from the illness consequent upon this 
wound, he was married, on September 2, 1862, to Eliza 
Hall Nutt, third daughter of Henry Nutt, of Wilming¬ 
ton, and on September 29th returned to his command, 
just after the battle of Sharpsburg. A short time after 
this he was made major by regular promotion. He was 
in the first battle of Fredericksburg, and with the regi¬ 
ment until about the 1st of March, 1863, when he returned 
home on a furlough. His family had in the meantime 
left Wilmington, on account of yellow fever, and after- 


690 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ward settled as refugees in Bladen county. He returned 
to the army in April. Before the battle of Chancellors- 
ville he was made lieutenant-colonel and commanded the 
regiment in that battle and through the whole campaign 
which followed. He was under fire at Winchester, in 
June, and at Jordan Springs was slightly wounded twice, 
once being saved from a fatal wound by the fact that the 
button on his coat caused the ball to glance aside. At 
Gettysburg he was one of the three officers of the Third 
regiment not killed or wounded. Payne’s Farm, Bristoe 
Station and Mine Run followed Gettysburg. In Sep¬ 
tember, 1863, he came home for a two weeks’ furlough, 
and saw for the first time his little daughter, then three 
months old. For six weeks more he traveled over the 
State on recruiting service, returning late in October to 
his command, then at or near Mitchell’s ford. At this 
time he brought home the regimental flag, which was in 
tatters, to see if it could be repaired; but concluded 
instead to lay it aside and make another, using the 
material of his old company (F) colors, a handsome silk 
flag presented by his mother when the company first 
went into service, and in the serious business of war no 
longer used. The red and white silk of the company 
colors was supplemented by a width entirely across the 
staff end, of blue, from a “before the war’’ silk dress, on 
which was painted the seal of North Carolina and the 
dates 1776 and 1861, stitched on in white letters arranged 
above and below it. This last flag was never brought 
home, though the staff in some way was saved, and with 
the original tattered banner is now in possession of the 
association of the Third regiment, which was organized, 
February 2, 1866. In May, 1864, came the battles of 
Locust Grove and of the Wilderness. After Colonel 
Thruston was wounded on the 10th, Colonel Parsley was 
in command until, at Spottsylvania, on the 12th of May, 
he, with a portion of the regiment, was captured at the 
horseshoe or “bloody angle” as it is now called. He 
was imprisoned in Fort Delaware, and from there, the 
first week in July, was conveyed on the prison ship 
Dragoon to Charleston, S. C., and anchored off Hilton 
Head in line of the Confederate guns—the prisoners, all 
officers, being confined between decks. In August he 
was exchanged, and the first week in October returned to 
the regiment, then in the valley of Virginia. He shared 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


691 


their fortunes, taking part in the battles around Peters¬ 
burg, in the capture of Hare’s Hill, and afterward in the 
trenches, until April 6, 1865, when he was killed at 
Sailor’s Creek on the retreat from Petersburg to Appo¬ 
mattox, three days before the surrender, aged twenty- 
four years and six months. Thus fell this gallant son of 
North Carolina in the last throes of the cause for which 
he gave his life. 

Robert H. M. Paschall, of Merry Mount, Warren 
county, now a prosperous business man, was identified 
for more than four years with the gallant record of the 
Twelfth regiment, North Carolina State troops. He 
enlisted in May, 1861, when the Twelfth was known as 
the Second volunteers, under Col. Sol Williams, in Com¬ 
pany B, of Granville county, where he was then engaged 
in mercantile trade, and after serving about one year as 
a private was promoted to sergeant, his rank during the 
remainder of the war. He was with the regiment at 
Norfolk, in its first battle at Hanover Court House, May, 
1862, where, having received a slight wound, his name 
appeared among the first battle casualties of the regi¬ 
ment, and was next in battle at Fredericksburg. Then 
he participated in Jackson’s great victory of Chancellors- 
ville. At Gettysburg he received severe wounds in his 
leg and his elbow, and he was in consequence disabled for 
six months. After his recovery he took part in the fight¬ 
ing at Spottsylvania Court House, and from Cold Harbor 
went to Lynchburg to aid in the repulse of Hunter. He 
was with Early in the campaign against Washington, 
including the battle of Monocacy, and returning to the 
valley, fought at Winchester and Cedar creek, receiving 
another wound in the latter battle. Finally, after weary 
months of exposure in the trenches of Petersburg, he was 
with the army on the last fatal march and the last sad 
day at Appomattox. Since then Mr. Paschall has been 
continuously in business as a merchant, first for ten years 
at Townsville, and since then at Merry Mount, where he 
also has agricultural interests and is one of the magis¬ 
trates of the county. He is a member of John White 
camp, United Confederate Veterans. Mr. Paschall was 
born in Warren county, December 17, 1838, was married 
in i860 to Melissa A. Twisdale, and has nine children 
living. 

Nc 67 


692 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Lieutenant James R. Patterson, of Asheville, a veteran 
of the Twenty-fifth regiment, North Carolina troops, was 
born in Buncombe county, July 5, 1844, the son of Robert 
and Leah (Roberts) Patterson. His father, also a native 
of Buncombe, and a descendant of the Scotch-Irish pio¬ 
neers of North Carolina, was a self-educated man of 
strong character and great devotion to principle, who 
became a Baptist minister and was widely known 
throughout the western part of the State during his forty 
years’ service. Through his mother Mr. Patterson is 
connected with the Ball family of Virginia. He enlisted 
from Buncombe county in 1861, as a private in Company 
K of the Twenty-fifth regiment, and after serving on 
the coast and at Grahamville, N. C., under General Lee, 
took part in the battle of New Bern and reached Virginia 
in time to participate in the Seven Days’ battles before 
Richmond, in General Ransom’s brigade. After sharing 
the service of his regiment at Harper’s Ferry and Sharps- 
burg, he was sick for some time at Chimborazo hospital, 
Richmond. Rejoining his command during the battle 
of Fredericksburg, he soon afterward returned to North 
Carolina and took part in the assault upon Plymouth, the 
capture of the Federal troops, and the movement against 
Washington. He fought under Ransom in the battle of 
Drewry’s Bluff, and continued in battle under Hoke on 
the Bermuda Hundred line, and at Petersburg. He was 
one of the heroes of the battle of the Crater on the Peters¬ 
burg lines, where the North Carolinians held their ground 
and finally swept the enemy from the lodgment they had 
gained. In the charge Patterson, who had just been 
elected second lieutenant of his company, received a 
severe wound in the left arm, the bone being broken, 
and a few weeks later it became necessary to amputate 
it. Thus crippled he returned to the front, early in 1865, 
but was soon honorably retired from duty. Afterward 
he engaged in teaching until 1870, when he was elected 
register of deeds for Buncombe county, an office which he 
held for eighteen years, then being elected clerk of the 
criminal court for a term of four years. In 1893 he 
embarked in the business of general insurance, with Mr. 
Rutledge, a son of the former colonel of the Twenty- 
fifth regiment, as a partner, and they have met with 
much success in their enterprise. Lieutenant Patterson 
is a charter member of Zeb Vance camp of United Con- 


( 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 693 

federate Veterans of Asheville. By his marriage, in 1869, 
to Julia E. Penland, who died in 1881, he has two chil¬ 
dren living, William R. and Lottie Lee. In 1883 he was 
married to Lillie Stansill, who died in 1890. Three 
brothers of Lieutenant Patterson were also in the serv¬ 
ice: Joseph M., who enlisted in the same company with 
him, served throughout the war as sergeant and now 
resides in Missouri; William A., who served in the Six¬ 
teenth regiment until disabled, and died in 1881; and 
Elijah S., of the First North Carolina cavalry, who was 
captured at Brandy Station in 1862, and died in Point 
Lookout prison in 1863. 

Lieutenant Charles Montgomery Payne, D. D., pastor 
of the Presbyterian church at Washington, N. C., did 
gallant service in the Confederate States army as an 
officer of the Fifty-sixth regiment, Ransom’s brigade. 
He was reared at Lexington, where his birth occurred 
October 19, 1842, and educated at Davidson college from 
i860 until April, 1862, when he went on duty as a member 
of the Davidson College Guards, which became Company 
K of the Fifty-sixth regiment, North Carolina infantry. 
He served first as sergeant, and in the fall of 1862 was 
elected second lieutenant. From the fall of 1864 he was, 
during the greater part of the time, attached to the staff 
of Gen. Matthew W. Ransom, and for a considerable 
period was acting adjutant of his regiment. Among the 
engagements in which he took part were those near Fort 
Fisher, in the fall of 1862; at Gum Swamp, spring of 
1863; the assault and capture of Plymouth; Bermuda 
Hundred and Drewry’s Bluff, Va.; the battle of June 17, 
1864, at Petersburg, and after that the long and weari¬ 
some service in the trenches before Petersburg, includ¬ 
ing the desperate fighting at the Crater and Hare’s hill, 
and finally the decisive conflict at Five Forks, where he 
was captured and his service in the field ended. As a 
prisoner of war he was first taken to the Old Capitol and 
thence to Johnson’s island, where he was held until the 
last of June, 1865. After his return to Lexington he 
studied medicine, attended the university of New York, 
and was graduated at Washington university, Baltimore, 
in 1869. He practiced this profession in his native State 
and in Georgia until 1870, when he determined to devote 
himself to the cherished purpose of his life, the Christian 


694 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ministry. He studied at the Union theological semi¬ 
nary, at Hampden-Sidney, was graduated in 1872, and 
after serving at Wilmington ten years and at Concord 
two years, came to his present charge at Washington 
in 1894. He has received from Davidson college the 
degrees of A. B. and D. D. Dr. Payne has four children 
living: Charles Lee, Anne B., Thomas Sparrow and 
John Lewis. 

Noah Staton Peel, of Williamston, one of the boj^-sol- 
diers of the Confederacy, and great-grandson of John 
Peel, a soldier of the revolution, was born in Martin 
county, in August, 1846. In July, 1864, being then 
eighteen years of age, he enlisted in the First regiment, 
North Carolina Junior reserves. He remained on duty 
during the period of greatest trial to North Carolina, 
while her soil was being traversed and her resources 
devastated by the army of Sherman, and participated in 
the battle of Kinston in March, 1865. Returning home 
after the capitulation of Johnston’s army, he engaged in 
farming for five years and then embarked in mercantile 
pursuits at Williamston, his present occupation. He has 
also had an honorable and conspicuous official career as 
magistrate, from 1876 to 1880, as member of the county 
court two years, and in 1894 received the appointment of 
clerk of the superior court of Martin county. Mr. Peel 
was married, in 1886, to Lizzie Yarrell, who died in 1892, 
leaving one child, Julius Slade Yarrell Peel. 

James Edward Peterson, of Salem, N. C., a veteran of 
the Twenty-sixth regiment, North Carolina troops, is a 
native of the city where he now resides, born December 
25, 1827. He entered the Confederate service in August, 
1862, joining the Twenty-sixth regiment at Weldon and 
becoming a member of the regimental band. He served 
in this capacity throughout the campaigns of the army of 
Northern Virginia which followed, and was with his 
regiment constantly, except when brought back to North 
Carolina to take part in the inauguration of Gov. Zebulon 
Vance, the former colonel of the regiment. During this 
visit to the State they gave several concerts for the pur¬ 
pose of raising funds for the army hospitals. Soon after 
the fall of Petersburg he was captured, with the band, 
and was paroled on the morning that news was received 


i 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


695 


of the assassination of President Lincoln. Since the war 
he has been an industrious and influential citizen of 
Winston. 

Robert R. Pinkston, of Henderson, a veteran of the 
Fourth regiment, North Carolina troops, was born in 
Anson county, in 1839, a son of Hugh D. Pinkston. He 
enlisted in the Confederate service in April, 1861, in the 
Anson Guards, or Company C of the Fourth regiment, of 
which Gen. Junius Daniel was the first colonel. After 
the reorganization, in 1862, the regiment was known as 
the Fourteenth. With this command he served at Manas¬ 
sas, under Beauregard, and in the spring of 1862 was at 
Yorktown under General Magruder. After a month’s 
arduous service at Yorktown that post was abandoned, 
and during the retreat he was detailed to convey a party 
of six soldiers to Richmond. Rejoining his regiment on 
the Chickahominy river, he participated in the battle of 
Seven Pines, where the Fourteenth lost 374 men, killed 
and wounded; and in the battles of June, under General 
Lee, in all of which his command rendered distinguished 
service. Subsequently he took part in the battles of 
Cedar Run and Second Manassas, South Mountain and 
vSharpsburg, and being captured in the latter engagement 
was held as a prisoner of war at Fort McHenry until the 
spring of 1863. Then rejoining his command, he par¬ 
ticipated in the battles of Chancellorsville, Berryville, 
Martinsburg and Gettysburg. On the return to Virginia 
he was promoted to sergeant and detailed for duty in the 
quartermaster’s department at Richmond, where he re¬ 
mained until the close of the war. After his return to 
North Carolina he resumed the occupation of carpentry, 
in which he had previously been engaged, at Raleigh, 
N. C., and in 1878 embarked in business as a contractor. 
Since 1883 he has also conducted a planing mill at Hen¬ 
derson. He is prominent among the industrious and 
successful business men of his city. In 1868 he was mar¬ 
ried to Lula N. Ward, of Granville county, N. C. 

John A. Pollock, M. D., of Kinston, a Confederate sol¬ 
dier in the Third North Carolina cavalry regiment, was 
born in Onslow county, November 1, 1844, the son of 
Dr. W. A. J. and Olive Branch (Humphrey) Pollock. 
His father, Dr. Pollock, practiced medicine for more than 


696 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 


half a century in Onslow and Lenoir counties. He made 
his home in the latter county in 1850, where John A. 
was reared and educated at the Kinston academy. The 
latter, in January, 1862, being a little past seventeen 
years of age, enlisted as a private in the Fifty-fifth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, but a few months later was 
transferred to Company E of the Third cavalry, with 
which he was identified until the end of the war. He 
participated in the fighting at New Bern, Kinston and 
Goldsboro and on the Blackwater river, Va., and during 
the siege of Suffolk by Longstreet’s forces, acted as 
courier for General Armistead, and was in all the battles 
and skirmishes in which that general’s troops were 
engaged. The Third becoming a part of Barringer’s 
North Carolina brigade, W. H. F. Lee’s division, he was 
in the fight at Ashland, Drewry’s bluff, Hanover Court 
House, Darbytown, Boydton, Plank road, Belfield, and 
the frequent combats of the cavalry during the siege of 
Petersburg. In March, 1865, he was detailed to recruit 
the horses of his command, and was at Greensboro, 
N. C., on this duty when the army of Northern Virginia 
was surrendered. He was then attached to Johnston’s 
army and subsequently paroled with it. Fortunately, in 
all these engagements he escaped with but one slight 
wound in the right ear, received during the skirmishes 
on the Pamunkey river. On his return home he engaged 
in the drug trade and studied medicine, and in 1876 was 
graduated at the university of New York. For many 
years he has been prominent and successful as a medical 
practitioner, served several terms as medical examiner of 
Kinston and Lenoir counties, was a member of the 
county medical society, and for twelve years a member 
of the State medical society, and has delivered lectures 
on physiology and hygiene in colleges and institutes. 
He has kept alive his experiences as a soldier as captain 
of the Macon mounted guards, composed of survivors of 
Company E, Third cavalry. By his marriage, in 1867, 
to Miss Agnes P. Jones, he has three children: Mozelle, 
Raymond and Emily H. A brother of the foregoing, An¬ 
drew J. Pollock, for many years an eminent physician of 
Florida, served during the war as captain of Company H, 
Fifty-fifth North Carolina troops. An uncle of Dr. Pol¬ 
lock was fatally wounded in the charge by Hoke’s divi¬ 
sion at Wise’s Fork’s battle in 1865. The forefathers of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


697 


Dr. Pollock were of Scotch descent. His great-grand¬ 
father, William Pollock, served in the revolutionary war, 
and a great-uncle in the war of 1812. The latter was 
wounded and died at Fort Caswell, near Wilmington, 
N. C. His brother, W. D. Pollock, lieutenant of the naval 
reserves of Kinston, enlisted for service in the recent war 
with Spain, and his son, Raymond, while at home from 
the Jefferson medical college of Philadelphia, offered his 
services to the governor of North Carolina in the same 
cause. 

Lieutenant James B. Pool, of Taylorsville, prominent 
for many years as an official of Alexander county, and a 
gallant soldier of Lane’s brigade, was born in Alexander 
county, April 5, 1841, son of William Pool, also a native 
of North Carolina. His grandfather, Jesse Pool, was a 
native of Dinwiddie county, Va.; his great-grandfather, 
William Pool, fought in the Indian wars, and the imme¬ 
diate ancestor of the latter was Samuel Pool, a native of 
England, who served in the patriot army of the revolu¬ 
tion. In September, 1861, Mr. Pool enlisted in an organ¬ 
ization which became Company G of the Thirty-seventh 
regiment, North Carolina troops, and was stationed at 
New Bern until the spring of 1862, when it fought under 
General Branch, against the Federals at that place, and 
then was ordered into Virginia. With the army of 
Northern Virginia he was in battle at Hanover Court 
House, Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill, Frayser’s farm, 
Malvern hill, Cedar run, Manassas Junction, Manassas 
Plains, Ox Hill, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Shepherds- 
town, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. 
During this service he was promoted from private to 
third lieutenant early in his career, then to second lieu¬ 
tenant and to first lieutenant in December, 1862. He 
was wounded at Second Manassas, Cedar Mountain, 
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but not so severely 
as to keep him out of any of the battles of his regiment. 
Finally this devoted soldier was captured at Gettysburg. 
He was in command of sharpshooters on the second day, 
and on the third day was captured in the famous assault of 
Pettigrew’s command on Cemetery hill. From that time 
until March 14, 1865, he was held as a prisoner of war 
at Johnson’s island, Lake Erie. On his return to his 
home he engaged in teaching school and in farming, and 


698 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


in the latter occupation is still interested as the owner of 
a fine farm in Alexander county. In 1871 he was elected 
register of deeds, and after ten years of service in that 
capacity, represented his county in the legislature. Sub¬ 
sequently he was a member, successively, of the board of 
education and the board of county commissioners, until 
1891, when he was elected to his present position, clerk 
of the court. Since 1869 he has also been a minister of 
the Baptist church; and until the failure of his health, 
filled several pastorates. He is one of the board of trus¬ 
tees of Taylorsville collegiate institute. By his marriage, 
in 1865, to Elizabeth Teague, he has three children liv¬ 
ing: Oscar F. F., Osmund F., and Effie Alma. Two 
brothers of Captain Pool were in the Confederate service: 
N. A. Pool, captain of Company K, Seventh regiment, 
and Christopher C. Pool, of Company G, Thirty-seventh 
regiment. 

Captain Stephen Porter, of Andrews, Cherokee county, 
is a native of Blount county, Tenn., son of Andrew Por¬ 
ter, a native of Virginia, who married Betsy Treadaway, 
of South Carolina, and moved to Tennessee in 1840. 
Andrew Porter enlisted in Company K, Fifth Tennessee 
cavalry, in 1862, and was with his regiment in the Ten- 
essee and Kentucky campaigns, including the battles of 
Perryville and Richmond, until captured during the bat¬ 
tle of Marysville, in January, 1863, when he was impris¬ 
oned at Camp Morton, Ind., where he died from hard¬ 
ships and exposure in March, 1864. Captain Stephen 
Porter, born in 1841, enlisted in the same company with 
his father and shared his early service, receiving a wound 
in the battle of Richmond, Ky. He served in many cav¬ 
alry engagements, received two slight wounds in the bat¬ 
tle of Chickamauga; at Shelbyville in a hand-to-hand 
encounter, was wounded in the head by a saber cut; and 
at Marysville was shot through both hands and so badly 
disabled that a comrade was detailed to assist him from 
the army, it appearing that his fighting days were past. 
He made his way to Franklin, N. C., and at the end of 
six months felt able to return to the fight. He then 
organized and was elected captain of a company which 
was attached to Thomas’ legion as Company K. He 
was sent on scouting duty to Tennessee, served with the 
forces under General Vaughn, was on duty guarding the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


699 


road at the mouth of Tuc.kaseegee river, and then 
returned to Asheville. His last scouting expedition was 
down the Tennessee to observe General Stoneman’s 
operations, and after reporting he was again ordered to 
Franklin, where he surrendered and secured the parole 
of his command with side arms and horses. Subse¬ 
quently he resided at Franklin until 1875, when he made 
his home in Cherokee county, removing in 1891 to 
Andrews, where he was a pioneer in business, and is now 
conducting a successful hotel. He has served as magis¬ 
trate for eleven years. By his marriage, in 1865, to 
Lucilla Moore, who died in 1877, he has seven children, 
and four have been born to his second marriage, in 1878, 
to Tallulah Adams, of Georgia. 

Captain Charles Price, a prominent attorney of Salis¬ 
bury, was one of the boy-soldiers of the Confederacy and 
enjoys the distinction of having been elected major before 
reaching the age of eighteen years. His father, John M. 
Price, served in the army as a quartermaster until old 
age compelled his retirement. His family, of Scotch 
origin, has been in North Carolina since the time of the 
revolution. Captain Price was reared at Warrenton, 
and was there educated until 1864, when, at the age of 
seventeen years, he enlisted for the Confederate service 
and was elected captain of Company A, First regiment 
Junior reserves, the company being composed of young 
men from Warren, Franklin and Nash counties. In the 
fall of the same year he was elected major of the regi¬ 
ment, and though the commission did not issue on 
account of his youth, he served in that capacity during 
the remainder of the war, participating in several engage¬ 
ments with the enemy, notably that of Belfield. After 
the close of hostilities he returned to Warren county, and 
resuming his studies prepared himself for the practice of 
law. He was licensed to practice in 1868, and then 
began, in Davie county, a career in that profession in 
which he has since become greatly distinguished. In 
1872 he was elected to the State senate from Davie and 
Rowan counties, and in 1875 he represented Davie in the 
constitutional convention, being elected without opposi¬ 
tion. In 1876 he was elected to the house of representa¬ 
tives without opposition and became speaker of that body, 
being at that time the youngest member who had ever 


700 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


been thus honored. Removing to Salisbury in 1878, he 
devoted himself wholly to the legal profession, having 
held no office since then except that of trustee of the 
State university for sixteen years, and that of United 
States district attorney, by appointment of President 
Harrison. In 1881 he became attorney for the Richmond 
& Danville railroad, and continued in that capacity until 
in 1894, as special master, he sold the Richmond & Dan¬ 
ville, Western & North Carolina, the Northwestern, the 
Durham & Northern, and the Oxford & Clarksville rail¬ 
roads to the Southern railroad company. Since then he 
has acted as division counsel for the latter system. In 
1871 he was married to Annie Hobson, daughter of Gov. 
John M. Morehead. She died in 1876, leaving one son, 
Augustus Hobson Price. In 1878 he married Mary 
Roberts, of Mobile. She was one of the lady managers 
for North Carolina at the Columbian exposition of 1893. 

Thomas R. Purnell, of Raleigh, N. C., judge of the 
United States district court, is a native of Wilmington, 
and received his education at Hillsboro military academy 
and at Trinity college. In April, 1864, being sixteen 
years of age, he enlisted in the Confederate service as a 
private in a cavalry company, organized and commanded 
by Captain Howard, but was at once detailed as a courier 
to General Whiting. After a brief service in this capac¬ 
ity he was assigned by General Whiting to duty as a 
member of Blackford’s corps of topographical engineers, 
and in that line of duty he continued until his corps was 
disbanded at the time of the surrender at Appomattox. 
Private Purnell then joined the army under General 
Johnston, and was the third man paroled at Greensboro. 
During his service he was under fire at the Dutch Gap 
canal and in an engagement with gunboats at Aquia 
creek, and very frequently while acting as courier. 
When peace was restored he entered Trinity college, 
Randolph county, N. C., and was graduated there in 
1869. Then taking up the study of law, he was admitted 
to the bar at Raleigh, in 1870, and at Baltimore, Md., in 
1871, after which he practiced for several months at the 
latter city. Returning to his native State he followed his 
profession at Salem until, on March 4, 1873, he received 
the appointment of State librarian. This office he 
resigned in 1876, and accepted a seat in the legislature, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


701 


as representative of Wake county, at the same time 
resuming the practice of law with his home at Raleigh. 
In 1882 he was elected to the State senate, where he 
served one term, and in 1892 was nominated for attorney- 
general, but was defeated by a small majority. From 
1877 to 1896 he also discharged, during the greater part 
of the time, the duties of United States commissioner. 
His appointment as United States district judge, a posi¬ 
tion which he fills with ability and dignity, was made in 
May, 1897. Judge Purnell is descended, through his 
mother, from E. B. Dudley, a distinguished North Caro¬ 
linian, who served as an officer in the war of 1812 and 
the Mexican war, and from 1836 to 1841 was governor of 
the State, and his father, Christopher Dudley, who served 
in the revolutionary war and as a member of the colonial 
legislature of North Carolina. His paternal ancestor 
came from the eastern shore of Maryland and settled in 
Halifax county, N. C. 

Captain Junius Napoleon Ramsay, M. D., a prominent 
citizen of Seaboard, N. C., was born in Northampton 
county, March 31, 1836. He was educated in the common 
schools, preparatory to entering the university at Chapel 
Hill, where he was graduated in 1857, and two years later 
he was graduated professionally at the university of 
Pennsylvania. Embarking then in the practice of medi¬ 
cine, at Seaboard and at Jackson, he was well launched 
in a professional career when the first alarm of war fol¬ 
lowed the movement for independence of the Southern 
States. This movement he sympathized with and sup¬ 
ported with all the strength of his young manhood, and 
not content with awaiting the action of his own State, 
he went to Charleston, S. C., about the 1st of March, 
1861, and enlisted as a private in the Palmetto Guards, 
commanded by Capt. George B. Cuthbert. This organ¬ 
ization was stationed at the famous Stevens’ iron battery, 
at Cummings Point, during the bombardment of Fort 
Sumter, and it is believed that Dr. Ramsay fired the sec¬ 
ond gun against the fort at the opening of that memor¬ 
able cannonade. A few days after the fall of Sumter he 
secured an honorable discharge in order to enter the serv¬ 
ice of his own State, and on the way home learned of the 
evacuation and burning of the navy yard at Portsmouth. 
He consequently hurried on to Virginia, and offering his 


702 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


services was appointed assistant surgeon, in which capac¬ 
ity he served at Fort Norfolk until the secession of North 
Carolina. Then returning home he assisted in organiz¬ 
ing a company in his county, and was commissioned first 
lieutenant. This became Company A, Third battalion, 
light artillery, Maj. J. W. Moore commanding, and Lieu¬ 
tenant Ramsay was identified with its service during the 
following two years. He was then transferred, at his 
request, to Company I, Eighth infantry, with which he 
was in battle at Plymouth, N. C., and at Battery Wagner, 
Charleston harbor, and immediately after the latter fight 
was promoted to captain of the company. Going with 
his regiment to the defense of Petersburg and Richmond, 
he received a severe wound in the left foot at the battle 
of Drewry’s Bluff, which prevented further service in the 
field. Upon partial recovery he was assigned to duty as 
assistant surgeon at Greensboro, N. C., where he was 
paroled in May, 1865. Since then he has been engaged in 
the practice of medicine, except during the last decade, 
when he has given his whole attention to his business 
and agricultural interests. He is vice-president and 
director of the bank of Weldon, and has served as director 
of the Eastern insane asylum and of the Oxford orphan 
asylum. When President Davis’ remains were carried 
through the State to Richmond he was one of the escorts 
of honor on behalf of North Carolina. By his marriage, 
in 1865, to Bettie Harwell Phillips, Dr. Ramsay has three 
children living: John T., Joseph H. and Bettie Phillips. 

Captain Nathan Alexander Ramsey, a prominent cit¬ 
izen of Durham, N. C., was born in Chatham county, 
December 3, 1827, a son of Joseph Ramsey, member of 
the State senate, 1827-30, and a member of the State 
constitutional convention of 1835. He was a grandson of 
Matthew Ramsey, a captain of the continental army and 
brother of Gen. Ambrose Ramsey, who served eleven 
years in the State senate of North Carolina. Mr. Ram¬ 
sey’s mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Winship Stead¬ 
man, who was a member of the North Carolina State 
senate and a brother of Nathan Steadman, of the revo¬ 
lutionary army. Mr. Ramsey was educated at Lovejoy’s 
academy and the university of North Carolina, being 
graduated from the latter institution in 1848. In 1850 
he made a visit to California, subsequently was in mer- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


703 


cantile business, and for three years was connected with 
the treasury department at Washington, D. C. He 
entered the Confederate service, April 16, 1861, as first 
sergeant in the Fifth regiment, North Carolina volun¬ 
teers, and he served with this command on the Virginia 
peninsula until 1862. He was then commissioned by 
the governor to organize a new company, of which he 
was elected captain, and this became Company D of the 
Sixty-first regiment. He continued in this rank until 
the close of the war, but for some time performed the 
duties of lieutenant-colonel. With the Sixty-first regi¬ 
ment he served at Wilmington, Charleston and various 
other points on the coast, and took part in the battles of 
Kinston, N. C., and the fighting on Morris island, James 
island and Sullivan’s island, in Charleston harbor. His 
most severe engagement was in defense of Battery Wag¬ 
ner. He was ordered to Virginia in 1864, fought at 
Drewry’s bluff and Cold Harbor, at the battle of the 
Crater and Fort Harrison, and in March, 1865, partici¬ 
pated in the battle of Bentonville. Soon afterward he 
was surrendered with Johnston’s army. Captain Ramsey 
was once captured by the enemy at Kinston, but was 
paroled within forty-eight hours and soon afterward ex¬ 
changed. An interesting incident of his experience was 
a night encounter with a^body of 25 deserters, whom he 
persuaded, single handed, to go with him and rejoin the 
army. Captain Ramsey was married, in 1868, to Anne 
Sophia, daughter of John Thompson, who for twenty 
years was clerk of the superior court. Her grandfather, 
John Thompson, was a member of the provincial con¬ 
gress of the State, as a representative of Chatham 
county. Her brother, John Erwin Thompson, was a 
member of the Independent light infantry, the oldest 
military company of the State. In August, 1862, he was 
promoted to first lieutenant of Company G, Forty-eighth 
regiment. He was severely wounded in battle, com¬ 
manded his regiment at Bristoe Station, and being taken 
prisoner in April, 1865, was confined for some time at 
Johnson’s island. Captain Ramsey has five children liv¬ 
ing: N. Elizabeth, Cora Manly, Adelaide, Pauline and 
Nathan A. Jr. 

Lieutenant John T. Rankin, of Wilmington, a veteran 
of the North Carolina artillery, was born at Southport, in 


704 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


1845, and reared and educated at Wilmington. In Au¬ 
gust, 1863, he* enlisted as a private in Company A, First 
North Carolina artillery, and in the following January 
was commissioned first lieutenant. In this rank he served 
on the coast, participated in the defense of Fort Fisher 
and Fort Anderson, and at the engagement of Town 
Creek, February 20, 1865, was wounded and made pris¬ 
oner by the enemy. Subsequently he was held at Fort 
Delaware until May 27, 1865. Mr. Rankin’s father, 
Robert G. Rankin, raised a company of heavy artillery, 
of which he was commissioned captain, in May, 1862, and 
which became Company C of the First North Carolina 
battalion. He served on coast defense until Johnston’s 
final campaign against Sherman, when he participated in 
the battle of Bentonville, and was killed, receiving seven 
wounds. At his death he was senior captain of the bat¬ 
talion. Robert G. Rankin, Jr., another son of Captain 
Rankin, also served in the First battalion, as a private. 

W. H. Rankin, of Guilford county, a gallant soldier of 
the Twenty-first regiment, North Carolina troops, who 
served in thirty-three pitched battles of the army of 
Northern Virginia, was born in Guilford county, Decem¬ 
ber 14, 1841. He entered the Confederate service as sec¬ 
ond sergeant of Company M, Eleventh regiment of vol¬ 
unteers, as the Twenty-first was then entitled, and under 
the command of Colonel Kirkland took part in the first 
battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861. In the spring of 1862 
he marched with Ewell to reinforce Jackson in the Shen¬ 
andoah valley, participated in the battle of Winchester 
and some minor affairs, and at the battle of Cross Keys 
received a severe wound in the left leg, which disabled 
him for a considerable time. On his return he took part 
in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and 
Gettysburg, fought in the Wilderness against Grant, and 
at Cold Harbor, and then, moving with Early to the relief 
of Lynchburg, joined in the chase of Hunter down the 
valley and marched through Maryland up to the forts at 
Washington. Returning to the valley, he fought against 
Sheridan at Winchester and Cedar creek, and afterward 
served in the Petersburg trenches until in the famous 
sortie of Gordon’s corps against Fort Stedman, March 
25, 1865, he lost his left leg in the battle. He lay in 
hospital, thus disabled, during the exciting events of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


705 


evacuation and Federal occupation, and finally was able 
to return home in July of that year. He is now engaged 
in teaching and in the management of his farm near 
Brown’s Summit. 

Colonel James M. Ray, of the Sixtieth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, brigadier-general commanding 
the Fourth brigade, North Carolina division, United Con¬ 
federate Veterans, was born in Buncombe county, in 
1839, the third child of Elisha and Harriet (Alexander) 
Ray. His father, who died in 1844, was a merchant in 
Buncombe county and a colonel of the State militia, and 
was the son of John Ray, a planter of South Carolina, 
who removed to Tennessee in middle life. His mother, 
Harriet, was the granddaughter of William Alexander, 
a revolutionary soldier, who removed to North Carolina 
after that war. The latter, a relative named Patton, and 
another comrade had the honor of capturing the mess 
chest of General Cornwallis at King’s mountain, and this 
trophy is still treasured by his descendants. Colonel 
Ray was educated at Emory and Henry college, Virginia, 
and then engaged in business in Tennessee until early in 
1861, when he entered the service of that State as a first 
lieutenant. In June, 1861, he enlisted as a private in a 
company for home defense at Asheville, N. C., and in 
1862 organized a company, of which he was elected first 
lieutenant, for the Sixth battalion, North Carolina troops, 
which was soon filled up to a regiment, and known as 
the Sixtieth, Lieutenant Ray becoming captain of Com¬ 
pany F. He served with this command in east Tennes¬ 
see, participated in the battle of Murfreesboro, and for 
good conduct was promoted lieutenant-colonel. In the 
summer of 1863 he was with Johnston in Mississippi, was 
general field officer at Big Black river on July 4th, and 
took part in the defense of Jackson. At the famous bat¬ 
tle of Chickamauga he commanded his regiment in Sto¬ 
vall’s brigade, Breckinridge’s division, in the fighting of 
September 19th and 20th, and on the last day was severely 
wounded in the arm within 81 yards of the Federal 
breastworks, the nearest point reached by the Confeder¬ 
ate troops. During his convalescence he was in com¬ 
mand of the post at Asheville, its former commander, 
General Vance, having been captured, and subsequently 
was a staff officer with Gen. J. G. Martin. The post of 


706 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Asheville, under General Martin’s command, held out for 
some time after the surrender of General Lee, the non- 
combatants being called out for service by Colonel Ray, 
but finally fell through treachery and the violation of a 
flag of truce. Colonel Ray resided after this in Paris, 
Tenn., until 1878, when he made his permanent home 
at Asheville and engaged in real estate transactions. He 
has been a public-spirited and valuable citizen, and is one 
of the prominent men of western North Carolina. He 
was elected lieutenant-commander of the first Confeder¬ 
ate veterans organization at Asheville, and subsequently 
was commander until 1893. He was also the first com¬ 
mander of Zeb Vance camp, U. C. V., of Asheville, 
which he organized, and declined re-election after one 
year’s service. In 1896-97 he served as inspector-general 
of the State under Maj.-Gen. W. L. DeRosset, and at 
Nashville, in 1897, he was elected to his present high 
rank in the order. By his marriage, in 1861, to Alice Cald¬ 
well, of Tennessee, a descendant of a colonial Virginia 
family, he has five children: Wayne S., Walter M., Clar¬ 
ence F., Carl Robert, and Willie Emily. The latter was 
maid of honor at the Nashville reunion and sponsor at 
the western North Carolina reunion at Andrews, and 
also sponsor for Zebulon Vance camp at the Atlanta 
reunion. 

Captain Neill W. Ray, of the gallant Sixth regiment, 
was born at Argyle, Cumberland county, and was the son 
of William Ray and his wife Margaret, who was a daugh¬ 
ter of Neil McLaughlin. Both the grandfathers of Cap¬ 
tain Ray came to North Carolina from Scotland, about a 
century ago. He was educated at Longstreet academy 
and at the North Carolina military institute at Charlotte, 
leaving school before his studies were completed, to 
enter the Confederate service. He enlisted for the war 
in May, 1861, in the company of Capt. S. McDowell Tate, 
Company D, afterward colonel of the Sixth regiment, 
State troops, and went into camp of instruction first at 
Charlotte, afterward, about June 1, 1861, at Company 
Shops, now known as Burlington. Being elected at the 
outset to the rank of second lieutenant, he was promoted 
to first lieutenant in 1862, and to captain in 1863. With 
his regiment he joined the army of Gen. J. E. Johnston 
at Winchester, Va., early in July, and after a toilsome 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


707 


march across the mountains, on the 21st of July shared 
the famous service of his regiment at the battle of First 
Manassas. In 1862 he bore his part in the distinguished 
service of his command at York town, and as the army fell 
back, at Eltham’s Landing, then Seven Pines, Meehan- 
icsville, Gaines’ Mill, White Oak swamp, Malvern hill, 
Slaughter’s mountain, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Ma¬ 
nassas, Ox Hill, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg near St. Mum- 
ma’sor the Dunker church, and at Fredericksburg; and 
then followed the historic encounters of Chancellorsville, 
Winchester, Gettysburg, Williamsport, Warrenton Springs, 
Bristoe Station, Rappahannock Bridge, Mine Run, New 
Bern, Plymouth, the fighting around Petersburg, includ¬ 
ing Hanover Junction and Bethesda church, in all of 
which he played a gallant part. At Gettysburg he was 
with his regiment as part of the attacking column, which 
charged and captured Cemetery heights on the evening 
of July 2, 1863, and held it until orders to fall back were 
given. Captain Ray has always claimed that failure to 
support that attack and capture of Cemetery hill, was the 
turning point at the battle of Gettysburg. He tells with 
what great reluctance the men of the Sixth North Caro¬ 
lina State troops fell back, complaining of having to 
leave a position that was so dearly won; and with pride 
for his regiment he refers to the monuments erected on 
Cemetery heights by the Union soldiers who defended it 
on that night. They tell the tale of the desperate en¬ 
counter. At Bethesda church, May 30, 1864, when 
Grant’s army was making a desperate effort to reach 
Richmond, Captain Ray’s left ankle was badly shattered, 
and it was deemed necessary to perform an amputation, 
which put an end to his military career. Two months 
later he returned to Fayetteville, his present home, and 
in 1865 he was elected clerk of the superior court of the 
county. This office he held for two years, in the mean¬ 
time reading law, so that when he was defeated under 
the Canby election, so-called, he was prepared to obtain 
license to practice and begin a career as a lawyer which 
has ever since continued, with abundant honors and sub¬ 
stantial success. For several years he has been honored 
by his fellow citizens with the office of mayor. In 1878 
he was married to Laura Pearson, of Morganton, and 
they have one child living, Donald. Captain Ray has 
contributed to war annals an interesting and authoritative 

Nc 68 


708 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


history of the Sixth regiment, which is on file in the war 
department at Washington, and also at Richmond and in 
several of the public or college libraries in North Carolina 
and Virginia. 

William T. Redmond, of Durham, one of the gallant 
North Carolinians who fell on the slope of Cemetery hill 
in the famous charge of Avery’s brigade, is a native of 
Durham county, born June 12, 1843. His father, Wil¬ 
liam P. Redmond, a native of North Carolina, was a 
prosperous farmer. In his eighteenth year, Redmond 
enlisted in Capt. W. J. Freeland’s company, which 
became Company C of the Sixth regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina troops, commanded by Col. Charles F. Fisher. 
Ordered to Virginia in July, 1861, the Sixth was on duty 
in the Shenandoah valley in the brigade of General Lee, 
and soon afterward took an important part in the famous 
victory of July 21st, at Manassas. Private Redmond did 
a soldier’s duty on that field as well as in the bloody 
battles of 1862, at Seven Pines, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern 
hill, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Manassas, Boonsboro, 
Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. He took part in the 
gallant defense of Fredericksburg, in May, 1863, was at 
the battle of Winchester, and carried the colors of his 
regiment on the night of July 2d, when the Sixth stormed 
the heights of Gettysburg, after an obstinate hand-to- 
hand fight with bayonets and clubbed muskets over the 
stone wall. Within a few rods of the Federal lines he was 
shot down, and on the retreat to Virginia was carried to 
the hospital at Staunton. His wound was of such severity 
that it was two months before he could go to his home, 
and he was never afterward fit for service. He was also 
slightly wounded at Sharpsburg. Since the restoration 
of peace Mr. Redmond has been successfully engaged in 
farming. He has held the office of magistrate for a con¬ 
siderable period, and during the second administration of 
President Cleveland, was connected with the revenue 
service at Durham. He is a member of the R. F. Webb 
camp, United Confederate Veterans. In 1865 he was 
married to Elvira, daughter of Wesley Rhodes, and they 
have had eleven children, of whom five are living: William 
P., James J., Charles A. (who served in Company I, First 
North Carolina regiment, in the late war with Spain), 
and Naomi, a daughter. 



CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


709 


Captain David Settle Reid, of Winston, was born in 
Rockingham county, April 28, 1847, nephew of Gov. 
David Settle Reid, who was born in the same county in 
1813, became a successful lawyer, was elected to the 
State legislature, the United States Congress, the govern¬ 
orship of the State, succeeded Willie P. Mangum as 
United States senator, and after the secession of the 
State was a member of the Confederate States Congress. 
When the subject of this sketch was seventeen years of 
age he entered the Confederate military service, in May, 
1864, as orderly-sergeant of Company A, Third regiment, 
Junior reserves, and during his comparatively brief serv¬ 
ice was promoted to second lieutenant and then to cap¬ 
tain of his company. He participated in the battle of 
Belfield, Va., was with the forces under General Bragg 
at Fort Fisher, and afterward took part in the battles of 
Kinston and Bentonville. He was paroled with Johnston’s 
army at Greensboro, and then returned to his native 
county. He has been a citizen of Winston and engaged 
in business as a merchant since 1877, and is one of the 
leading citizens of the town. 

Major James Reilly, born at Athlone, County Roscom¬ 
mon, Ireland, Aprihi7, 1823, died at Wilmington, No¬ 
vember 5, 1894, was one of the most gallant artillery 
officers of the army of Northern Virginia, and a hero of 
the immortal defense of Fort Fisher. Coming to Amer¬ 
ica when quite young, he first resided in New Jersey and 
later in Maryland, where he enlisted in the Second regi¬ 
ment of artillery, United States army. He served in the 
war with the Seminole Indians in Florida, and later in 
the Mexican war, receiving severe wounds at Chapulte- 
pec. For bravery he was promoted orderly-sergeant and 
assigned to Capt. Henry Hunt’s battery, and entered the 
capital of Mexico with the column of General Worth. In 
1857 he was appointed ordnance-sergeant, and not long 
before the rupture between the North and South he 
was detailed to take charge of Fort Johnson on Cape 
Fear river. On January 9, 1861, when he was asked to 
turn over the keys to a party of citizens, he stoutly 
refused until persuaded resistance was futile. On the 
next day he took back the stores from the same parties, 
the act having been disavowed by the governor. Soon 
afterward he received his discharge by special order of 


710 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


May 3d, and then tendered his services to the old North 
State. Being a fine artilleryman he drilled the volun¬ 
teers at Fort Johnson and at the Raleigh camp of instruc¬ 
tion, until commissioned captain of a battery organized in 
Rowan county. With this gallant company, known as 
Light Battery D, North Carolina troops, he joined the 
army in Virginia just after the battle of First Manassas, 
and was presented by General Johnston with a fine set of 
guns, captured from the enemy, and assigned to General 
Whiting’s command at Evansport. During the follow¬ 
ing winter his command was reported by the inspector- 
general as in the best condition of any battery in the 
army. At York town, with the troops covering the rear, 
he brought off all his own guns and two abandoned by 
another battery, which were presented to his command. 
He was in battle at Eltham’s Landing and Seven Pines, 
and was particularly distinguished in the daring and 
skillful combats, almost daily, with the enemy’s superior 
artillery, which preceded the Seven Days’ campaign. He 
was selected by Whiting to accompany him in reinforcing 
Jackson, and took a prominent part in the attack of Jack¬ 
son’s command on McClellan’s right, especially at Toto- 
potomoy bridge, Gaines’ Mill, White Oak swamp and at 
Malvern hill, where his battery lost heavily, but bravely 
did the work assigned them, and received the personal 
congratulations of General Jackson. At Gaines’ Mill he 
was given the choice of the fourteen captured cannon. 
At Freeman’s Ford, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Manas¬ 
sas, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg, he won 
new honors, fighting in the most exposed positions with 
the greatest gallantry. In May, 1863, he was strongly 
recommended by General Whiting for promotion. Gen. 
J. E. Johnston had previously recommended him, saying 
that he would rather have Reilly’s battery with him than 
any other in the Confederate States. At Gettysburg his 
battery and Latham’s were the first of the battalion to 
engage the enemy, July 2d, and he was actively engaged 
on the third day also. After this he was promoted major 
and assigned to the Tenth North Carolina volunteers, or 
First artillery. In December, 1864, during the first 
demonstration against Fort Fisher, he arrived at that 
important post in company with General Whiting, and 
during the second assault was in command on the left of 
the forces in the works. After the enemy had gained a 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


711 


foothold, and Whiting and Lamb were both wounded, 
he assumed chief command, and rallying his men drove 
back the enemy for a time. But the odds were so great 
against him that he fell back to Fort Buchanan with a 
little remnant of the garrison, and there surrendered his 
sword to Capt. E. L. Moore, of Massachusetts, who 
returned it with expressions of admiration of his former 
enemy’s gallantry, in 1893. Major Reilly was impris¬ 
oned at Fort Delaware, where he was visited by General 
Hunt, his former captain, and received privileges not 
usually granted to the prisoners of war, and was offered 
a commission in the United States army. Returning to 
Wilmington after the close of hostilities, he was for some 
time superintendent of the Wilmington and Brunswick 
ferry company, and later engaged in farming until his 
death. He was married, in July, 1848, to Annie Quinn, 
of Ireland, who died in 1872, leaving three daughters and 
one son, John W. Reilly, now superintendent of the Wil¬ 
mington gas light company. By a second marriage he 
had two daughters. Major Reilly was a devout Roman 
Catholic, and was kind and benevolent to all. He was 
selected to deliver the welcome address to the first bishop 
of North Carolina, afterward Cardinal Gibbons, who 
always held him in high esteem for his many Christian 
virtues. In his battery he had organized an association 
for the spiritual welfare of its members and reminded 
them of the efficacy of prayer before going into battle. 

Lieutenant Ferdinand Lafayette Reynolds, of Winston, 
was born in Forsyth county, August 6, 1836. In early 
manhood he removed to Illinois and there at first enlisted 
in the United States army, but embraced an opportunity 
to escape, in the spring of 1862, and return to North 
Carolina, where he was in command of a camp of 
recruits. He entered service with the army of Northern 
Virginia, as first lieutenant of his company, which was 
assigned to the Forty-eighth regiment, North Carolina 
troops, as Company K. In the brigade of General 
Walker he participated in the battles of Seven Pines and 
of the Seven Days before Richmond, and subsequently 
with the brigade of General Cooke, took part in many 
battles and skirmishes, including the great combats at 
Sharpsburg and Gettysburg. In one of the battles 
before Richmond he was severely injured, sustaining a 


712 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


fracture of the right thigh, which disabled him for a long 
time. He has been one of the enterprising and valued 
citizens of Winston, has held a position in the office of 
the revenue collector for that district, and is now engaged 
with his four sons in the nursery business, a few miles 
west of the city. 

Captain V. V. Richardson, of Whiteville, well known 
throughout North Carolina for his prominence in public 
affairs, was born in Columbus county, November 6, 1839, 
son of Valentine and Nancy (Pridgen) Richardson. He 
is of patriotic lineage, his grandfather Richardson having 
served as an American soldier in the war of the revolu¬ 
tion. Captain Richardson, after completing his educa¬ 
tion at the Whiteville academy, followed farming until 
twenty years of age and became a clerk in a store at 
Whiteville. Here he was a leader in the organization of 
the first company formed in the county, at the beginning 
of the war of the Confederacy, and was elected its sec¬ 
ond lieutenant. This became Company H of the Eigh¬ 
teenth regiment, North Carolina State troops. He was 
on duty with his command in North Carolina about one 
year, and then served for a time in the office of the pro¬ 
vost-marshal at Wilmington. Subsequently he was com¬ 
missioned captain of Company C of his old regiment, then 
commanded by Col. T. J. Purdie and afterward by Col. 
J. D. Barry, in the brigade of Gen. James H. Lane. He 
commanded his company in the battles of Fredericks¬ 
burg, Chancellorsville and many other famous conflicts, 
and at the battle of the Wilderness commanded the sharp¬ 
shooters of the brigade. While in the performance of 
this duty he fell with a severe wound through the hip, 
which disabled him for further service. General Lane, 
in his report of this engagement, mentioned him as “a 
most reliable officer of often tried gallantry.” His res¬ 
ignation as captain was accepted, in October, 1864, and 
having returned home, in August he was elected sheriff of 
Columbus county, an office which he held for eight years 
thereafter. He was then elected to the legislature, where 
he had a seat either in the Senate or House for a period 
of ten years, holding the prominent positions of chairman 
of the finance committee and the committees on corpora¬ 
tions and redistricting the State. At the end of his leg¬ 
islative service he twice declined re-election. He was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


713 


then appointed sheriff, to fill an unexpired term, and was 
subsequently elected to the office, but resigned before the 
expiration of that term to accept an appointment by 
President Cleveland as United States marshal for the 
eastern district of North Carolina. He also held the 
position of director of the Western North Carolina rail¬ 
road by appointment of Governors Vance and Jarvis. 
He now holds the position of director of the institution 
for the deaf and dumb at Morganton, and is actively 
engaged in farming, merchandising and manufacturing. 
His career, both as a soldier and civilian, has been one of 
honor and prominence, and he has faithfully discharged 
the trusts confided to him. Captain Richardson was 
married, in 1865, to Amanda, daughter of Col. Alfred 
Smith. They have the following children: C. G., Alfred 
S., Donald V., Maud A., Marietta S., and Bessie. 

Lieutenant Dallas M. Rigler, a gallant veteran of 
Lane’s North Carolina brigade, was born at Charlotte, 
where he now resides, November 1, 1844. He is the son 
of John R. Rigler, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., who 
removed to Charlotte about 1833, as an employe of the 
United States mint, and continued in that service until 
the beginning of the war. The son, as a loyal North 
Carolinian, enlisted in 1861, as a private in Company I 
of the Thirty-seventh regiment, and subsequently was 
identified with its career until the war had practically 
come to an end, rising through the grades of corporal, 
orderly-sergeant and second lieutenant to that of first 
lieutenant. He served gallantly in many battles, includ¬ 
ing those of New Bern, Hanover Court House, Mechan- 
icsville, Frayser’s Farm, Gaines’ Mill, Cold Harbor, 
Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, Shep- 
herdstown, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spottsylva- 
nia Court House, Jericho Ford, Gravelly Run, Reams’ 
Station, and the fighting about Petersburg. He was 
wounded several times, most seriously at Chancellors¬ 
ville, where his right leg was broken, disabling him dur¬ 
ing the Gettysburg campaign, and on one occasion nar¬ 
rowly escaped a serious wound through the interposition 
of a small Bible captured from a Yankee, which, carried 
in his pocket, stopped a ball, at Chapin’s bluff. He was 
complimented for bravery at Spottsylvania, and from 
August, 1864, was distinguished in command of the 


714 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


sharpshooters from his regiment who were included in 
the famous sharpshooters of Lane’s brigade, whose serv¬ 
ice was of the most romantic and daring nature, and fre¬ 
quently received the warm approbation of the Confederate 
commanders, including Robert E. Lee himself. Lieuten¬ 
ant Rigler was captured, April 2, 1865, with the gallant 
300 who held Fort Gregg, on the Petersburg lines, for 
several hours against the determined assaults of Ord’s 
Federal corps, who surrounded them and were encour¬ 
aged by the successes of their army. He was subse¬ 
quently held as a prisoner of war at Johnson’s island until 
about the 1st of July, 1865. Since his return to Charlotte 
he has been engaged in business pursuits with good suc¬ 
cess. In May, 1866, he was married to Mary J. Archer, 
of Portsmouth, Va. 

Charles W. Rivenbark, of Charlotte, was born in New 
Hanover, now Pender county, April 23, 1841, the son of 
William and Margaret (Browning) Rivenbark, natives of 
the same county. He enlisted in the First regiment, 
North Carolina troops, Col. Montford S. Stokes, which 
was organized at Warrenton, N. C., June 3, 1861, and 
soon afterward ordered to service on the Potomac river. 
As a private, and later as orderly-sergeant of his com¬ 
pany, he served with credit in the subsequent campaigns 
and battles of his command, participating in the engage¬ 
ments of Gaines’ Mill, Frayser’s Farm, Cold Harbor, 
South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancel- 
lorsville, Winchester and Gettysburg. During this serv¬ 
ice he was slightly wounded two or three times, and was 
captured at Chancellorsville, but exchanged six days 
later. He devoted himself thoroughly to the profession 
of a soldier, studying the tactics, and becoming so pro¬ 
ficient that he was frequently called upon to act as drill- 
master, and was for a short time detailed for that duty 
with the Forty-fourth Georgia regiment. At the fateful 
battle of Gettysburg he was captured by the enemy, and 
thereafter was confined at Fort Delaware. After he 
had been a prisoner of war over a year and a half, he 
formed a plan of escape into which about 140 fellow pris¬ 
oners were admitted. It was necessary to swim seven 
miles across the bay from the walls of the fort, and 
a sufficient number of planks with a couple of tightly 
corked canteens tied to each were provided. He sawed 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


715 


the hole through which his comrades dropped and took to 
the water, and all got away in safety, but when he came 
to look for his life-preserver he found that it had been 
appropriated by another, and he was forced to remain 
behind. Not long afterward, by another plan, he made 
his escape, after a year and nine months’ imprisonment, 
and on April ist started for Dixie. But the speedy close 
of the war made further service impossible. In 1878 he 
made his home at Charlotte, where is now in business, 
and is a comrade of the Mecklenburg camp with the rank 
of quartermaster. In February, 1866, he was married to 
Mrs. Kate Moore. 

Stephen G. Roberts, who since the war has made a 
successful career as a merchant of New Bern, was a 
faithful soldier of the Confederacy during his youth. He 
is a native of Carteret county, N. C., born in 1844. When 
eighteen years of age, in the fall of 1862, he went to Wil¬ 
mington and enlisted in the battery of light artillery, 
commanded by Capt. Z. T. Adams, which became Com¬ 
pany D of the Tenth North Carolina battalion. He was 
identified with the subsequent service of this battery, and 
in July, 1864, while on duty at Fort Fisher, was detailed 
as a courier for Maj. Spiers Singleton. While acting in 
this capacity he was captured by the Federals during the 
first attack upon the fort, on Christmas day, 1864, which 
put an end to his service as a Confederate soldier. He 
was transported to Point Lookout, Md., and confined 
there until May, 1865. After his return to North Caro¬ 
lina he found employment as a mercantile clerk for three 
years, at Portsmouth, and then made his home at New 
Bern, where he has ever since been engaged in business. 

Eber R. Robertson, a gallant young martyr of the 
Confederacy, was born at Winnsboro, S. C., April 4, 
1847, of a patriotic family of Scotch descent, which has 
had representatives in all the American wars since the 
revolution. Two of his great-grandfathers served in 
the revolution in the patriot army, Capt. William Rob¬ 
ertson and Maj. William Smith, the latter of whom sub¬ 
sequently represented a South Carolina district in the 
United States Congress. Young Robertson, inspired by 
such examples of patriotism, enlisted in February, 1863, 
before he was sixteen years old, as a private in the 


716 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Charleston Light Dragoons, of Company K of the Fourth 
South Carolina cavalry, Col. B. H. Rutledge. He served 
near Charleston until the spring of 1864, when the com¬ 
mand was ordered to Virginia, and there Robertson was 
selected, upon the recommendation of his colonel, as 
courier to Gen. M. C. Butler. In this capacity he par¬ 
ticipated in the campaigns and battles of Hampton’s cav¬ 
alry until September 24, 1864, when he was accidentally 
killed by a Confederate sentinel near Petersburg. A 
younger and surviving brother of the foregoing, Capt. 
Thomas R. Robertson, of Charlotte, who reveres the 
memory of the fallen heroes of the South and has done 
much to perpetuate the martial and chivalrous spirit of 
the past, was born at Winnsboro, April 24, 1849. He 
was graduated at the university of South Carolina in 
1869, was admitted to practice as an attorney in 1876, 
removed to Charlotte in 1881, and in 1885 was appointed 
clerk of the criminal court of Mecklenburg county, and by 
reappointment served until 1893, when he was appointed 
postmaster by President Cleveland. While in South 
Carolina he became a lieutenant of the Fairfield Light 
Dragoons, organized in 1875, and was promoted captain, 
and subsequently was a non-commissioned officer of the 
Gordon light infantry until 1881. At Charlotte he has 
served as first lieutenant of the reorganized Hornet’s 
Nest Riflemen, one year, and as captain of that famous 
organization since 1884. With the Gordon light infantry 
he took part in the Yorktown centennial celebration, 
and as commander of the Riflemen participated in the 
parades at both the inaugurations of President Cleve¬ 
land, at the last serving as aide to General McMahon, 
chief marshal. He was married, in 1871, to Cora M., 
daughter of Col. William Johnston, for many years presi¬ 
dent of the Charlotte, Columbus & Augusta railroad, a 
descendant of a signer of the Mecklenburg declaration, 
and a great-granddaughter of two revolutionary officers, 
Capt. William Johnston and Gen. Joseph Graham. 

Lieutenant J. Rowan Rogers, a gallant veteran of the 
Forty-seventh regiment, North Carolina troops, which 
was first commanded by his brother, Col. Sion H. Rog¬ 
ers, was born in Wake county, in 1844, and was educated 
at Wilson’s academy, in Alamance county, which he left 
to enlist as private in Company I of his brother’s regi- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


717 


ment, in the spring of 1862. Three weeks after the 
organization he was elected third lieutenant, and subse¬ 
quently was promoted second lieutenant. The regiment 
was on duty in North Carolina for some time, during 
which Lieutenant Rogers commanded a squad of men on 
railroad guard duty near Enfield, and with his regiment, 
on the railroad from Kinston to Goldsboro, was in fre¬ 
quent skirmishes with the enemy until ordered into Vir¬ 
ginia and stationed near Petersburg. Here he was taken 
with typhoid fever and disabled for several months, and 
on his recovery took part in the campaign against 
Federal General Foster in the vicinity of Goldsboro and 
Kinston. Returning to Virginia, he was engaged in the 
vSuffolk campaign, and was in southeastern Virginia 
under General Pryor until again ordered to North Caro¬ 
lina, where his brigade came under the command of Gen¬ 
eral Pettigrew and did good service at New Bern. He 
was second in command of the sharpshooters, who drove 
in the Federal sharpshooters on Rodman’s Point, below 
Little Washington, and repulsed a gunboat with rein¬ 
forcements, and was honorably mentioned in general 
orders. At Gettysburg his gallant brigade suddenly 
encountered the enemy on the first day, and deploying 
with great coolness, drove the Federal cavalry before 
them. In the desperate fight that followed, the Forty- 
seventh and Fifty-second made a splendid charge to the 
relief of the Twenty-sixth and Eleventh regiments, and 
forced the enemy from the field in their front, though at 
heavy loss. On the third day, after lying behind the 
batteries for several hours, in the terrible heat of a July 
sun, they sprang up at the order to advance, and threw 
themselves with a devoted valor that has no superior in 
the annals of war, against the Federal lines of Cemetery 
hill. They were swept down by the fire of more than 
100 cannon, great gaps were cut by the enemy’s rifles as 
they came nearer to the goal, and finally the handful that 
was left disappeared in the terrible roar and smoke of the 
battle. Lieutenant Rogers, when capture seemed inev¬ 
itable, returned to the original lines, having fortunately 
escaped with a slight wound. His company in this cam¬ 
paign lost 52 men; out of the regiment, 700 muskets 
before the fight, but 97 were left on duty on the return 
to Virginia. Lieutenant Rogers was in twenty-eight 
battles in all, including the Wilderness, Spottsylvania 


718 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and Cold Harbor, in the latter engagement receiving a 
serious wound which disabled him until after the battle 
of Reams’ Station. When taken to the rear after this 
wound, General Kirkland, also wounded, called him into 
his tent, and he was carried in the general’s ambulance 
to hospital. After serving many months on the Peters¬ 
burg lines, and in the battles at Jones’ farm, Burgess’ 
Mill and on the Weldon railroad, he was captured on 
the Cox road, near the Appomattox river, April 6, 1865. 
He was confined as a prisoner of war at the Old Capitol 
prison and Johnson’s island until June 18th. In 1867 
Lieutenant Rogers opened a general store at Raleigh, 
which he is conducting in addition to his industry as a 
farmer. For two terms he was sheriff of Wake county, 
being first elected in 1886, and during the administration 
of President Harrison, he served as mail weigher in the 
postal service. In June, 1897, he was elected steward of 
the State school for the deaf and blind at Raleigh. 

Colonel Sion Hart Rogers, first commander of the 
Forty-seventh regiment, North Carolina State troops, 
was born in Wake county, in 1825. From his earliest 
manhood, when he was denominated “the gallant Rog¬ 
ers, ’ ’ in commemoration of one of the most remarkable 
political struggles that Wake county ever witnessed, he 
was the center of a band of warm friends and a recog¬ 
nized leader in political and patriotic activity. In 1853 
he was elected to the United States Congress by the 
metropolitan district, and though the youngest member 
of the house, displayed remarkable firmness and inde¬ 
pendence. With the exception of Puyear, he stood alone 
from North Carolina, and with the exception of John 
Bell, of Tennessee, almost alone in the South in opposi¬ 
tion to the Kansas-Nebraska bill. At that period, and 
up to the secession of North Carolina, he was an ardent 
Union man, but when secession became inevitable, he at 
once enlisted in the Raleigh Rifles, afterward Company 
K, Fourteenth regiment. On May 21, 1861, he was elected 
first lieutenant, the capacity in which he served during 
the year’s enlistment. There then being fear that the 
State’s quota might not be filled, he came home and 
entered into the work of organization, raising first a bat¬ 
talion and then a regiment, the Forty-seventh, of which 
he was commissioned colonel. With a part of his un- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


719 


drilled command he operated vigorously against the Fed¬ 
eral advance from New Bern, and subsequently complet¬ 
ing his regiment, was on duty in North Carolina, and at 
Drewry’s bluff and vicinity during the Maryland cam¬ 
paign, when he had command of all the troops on pro¬ 
vost guard duty at Petersburg. Later he displayed 
soldierly qualities in various encounters with the enemy 
in the vicinity of Suffolk, in the engagement at Kinston, 
during the expedition against Goldsboro, where the 
Federals were defeated in their attempt to cross the 
river, and in the following fights which forced the enemy 
back to New Bern. His regiment was hotly engaged at 
the railroad bridge, near Goldsboro, and Colonel Rogers 
was complimented for his gallantry on that occasion. He 
was never a robust man and had suffered from hemorrhage 
during his service, and on this account resigned after his 
command returned to Virginia, in January, 1863. He 
was promptly elected attorney-general of the State, by 
the legislature, an office which he held for two terms. 
He was also for a time county attorney of Johnson county, 
and in 1870 was again elected to Congress. He was 
loved by his regiment, for, like all brave men, he had 
tender and attractive qualities. Upon his death, in 
1874, memorial meetings were held in all the courts 
which he had attended, and resolutions were adopted, 
expressing the profound sorrow caused by the compara¬ 
tively early ending of his career. Three children sur¬ 
vive him: W. H. Rogers, a merchant at Raleigh; A. G. 
Rogers, lieutenant in the United States navy, and a 
daughter residing in Texas. 

George A. Rose, deceased, a Confederate soldier of 
Warren county, N. C., was one of five brothers who ren¬ 
dered gallant service in the cause of the South. He 
enlisted, in 1861, in a company organized in Warren 
county, and served with this company until the close of 
the war. Then returning to his home, he engaged in 
farming until the time of his death in 1893. His brother, 
Louis Rose, was a faithful soldier throughout the four 
years, and was severely wounded. Robert F. Rose, who 
also received honorable wounds in the service, and 
Thomas and Louis were in the Confederate ranks from 
the beginning to the end of the struggle. George A. 
Rose, of Henderson, N. C., who bears the name of his 


720 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


gallant father, was born in Warren county, in 1868, and 
was there reared and educated. He embarked in busi¬ 
ness at the age of seventeen years as a partner in a gen¬ 
eral store at Henderson, and has ever since continued 
with much success in this enterprise. He is also a stock¬ 
holder in cotton mills and has important agricultural 
interests. Mr. Rose was married, in 1890, to Martha 
S., daughter of Dr. Bennett P. Perry, of Franklin county, 
N. C. 

William B. Royall, D. D., the distinguished professor 
of Greek language and literature at Wake Forest college, 
is connected with the memories of Confederate service, 
both through the work of his father, as chaplain of the 
Fifty-fifth North Carolina regiment, and by virtue of his 
own boyhood experience in the ranks. He was born at 
Mount Pleasant, Charleston county, S. C., September 2, 
1844, and was educated at Furman university, in his 
native State, and at the North Carolina institution where 
he is now an honored member of the faculty. In the fall 
of 1861 he enlisted in the Santee artillery, Manigault’s 
battalion, as a private, and served with that command 
until about a year later, when his father became chaplain 
of the Fifty-fifth. He then received the appointment of 
commissary-sergeant in that regiment, the capacity in 
which he served during the remainder of the war. He 
was with his regiment during the prominent engage¬ 
ments of the army of Northern Virginia, from Gettys¬ 
burg to Appomattox, frequently did devoted service with 
the ambulance corps, and was often under fire, particu¬ 
larly during the siege of Petersburg. He was called to 
the position of instructor at Wake Forest not long after 
the war, and in 1871 was appointed professor of Greek. 
He is also a minister of the Baptist church. By his mar¬ 
riage, in 1871, to Miss Hall, of Columbus county, he has 
four sons living, William, John H., Robert H. and 
James B. 

John Kirkland Ruffin, M. D., of Wilson, N. C., is a 
worthy representative of the medical service of the Con¬ 
federate States army. He was born in Orange county, 
N. C., in 1834, son of Hon. Thomas Ruffin, born in King 
and Queen county, Va., 1787, died in 1870, after a career 
of pre-eminent distinction as a lawyer and chief justice 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


721 


of North Carolina. Dr. Ruffin was educated at the uni¬ 
versity of North Carolina, and graduated in medicine at 
the university of Pennsylvania. He left his practice at 
Washington, N. C., in April, 1861, to become assistant 
surgeon of the Fifth infantry regiment, with which he 
was at the first battle of Manassas. He was then pro¬ 
moted to surgeon of the Forty-ninth regiment, with which 
he was in battle during the Seven Days’ campaign about 
Richmond, and at Drewry’s bluff, Fredericksburg and 
Suffolk. In the winter of 1864-65 he was transferred to 
the medical examining board of North Carolina, for the 
selection of recruits. While in the State he was present 
at the capture of Plymouth. His professional career after¬ 
ward was at Graham, until 1876, and since then at Wil¬ 
son. He was married, in 1858, to Sallie E., daughter of 
Col. Joshua Tayloe. She died in 1883, leaving seven 
children, and three years later he wedded Nina W., 
daughter of Henry J. G. Ruffin, of Louisburg. 

Colonel Thomas Ruffin, a distinguished North Carolina 
patriot, was born near Louisburg, in 1820, the third son 
of Henry John Gray Ruffin, colonel of State militia in 
1812-17, and his wife Mary Tartt. Soon after he attained 
majority he removed to the Ozark region of Missouri and 
began the practice of law, and won distinction by his 
fearless enforcement of order at great personal peril. On 
August 31, 1846, he was commissioned first lieutenant of 
the Ozark Mountain Guards, which was attached to the 
First regiment of infantry for the Santa Fe expedition, 
organized under the call of July 18, 1846, and marched 
with his command toward Mexico, where, however, the 
war ended before his arrival. Afterward returning to 
North Carolina, he practiced law at Goldsboro, was 
elected to Congress, and was serving his second term 
when his State seceded. Resigning his seat, he organized 
a company which was attached to the First North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry, and remained with it as captain, though 
tendered the command of a regiment of infantry. He 
represented his district in the provisional congress of the 
Confederate States in 1861, and again in 1862, serving 
alternately in the field and in the national legislature. 
Then declining re-election, he was in continuous service 
with his famous regiment under Hampton and Stuart 
until, at the battle of Gettysburg, he received a saber cut 

Nc 46 


722 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


on the head from a Federal officer whom he met in the 
charge, and was shot after he was wounded. On recov¬ 
ering from the effects of this injury, he participated in 
the Bristoe campaign, in command of his regiment, and 
met his death in the famous cavalry fight at Auburn 
Mill, October 13, 1863, in which Stuart extricated his 
cavalry after being entirely surrounded by the enemy. 
I11 his account of this affair, General Stuart wrote: “Gen¬ 
eral Gordon, who was directed to cover the left flank, 
seeing the enemy pressing rapidly down on that side in 
a manner which threatened to cut us off from the road, 
ordered forward one of his regiments, the old First, which 
was led by its gallant colonel, the lamented Ruffin. He 
charged a regiment of infantry, nearly all of whom had 
surrendered, when a reinforcement closing up rapidly 
under the cover of a fence, compelled this Spartan band 
to relinquish their captives. The colonel of the regiment 
fell in the charge. He was a model of worth, devotion 
and heroism. ’ ’ Colonel Ruffin was captured in a dying 
condition, with a wound in the forehead, and taken to 
Alexandria, where he was permitted to have the kindest 
attentions from the Southern ladies there, who, after 
his death, had his remains placed in a private vault 
from which they were transferred to the Ruffin home¬ 
stead. His gold watch, jewelry and all personal effects 
were preserved by his captors and forwarded to his 
family. 

Wesley Soule Russell, one of the leading business men 
of Chatham county, was born in Robeson county, March 
8, 1839, the son of Mark Russell, of Fayetteville, and his 
wife, Sarah J. Council, both natives of North Carolina. 
Mr. Russell’s military service was rendered in the quar¬ 
termaster’s and commissary departments, he never serv¬ 
ing in the ranks except at the battle of Bentonville. 
His enlistment was in Company D, Fifty-first regiment, 
North Carolina State troops, a command which was 
mainly on duty in the State, but made a gallant record 
in other quarters. He served with the regiment at Cold 
Harbor in the army of Northern Virginia, in the quarter¬ 
master’s department, and in other famous combats, 
served in the defense of Charleston, S. C., and with 
J. E. Johnston fought the last great battle of Benton¬ 
ville. After the close of hostilities he returned to Ran- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


723 


dolph county and engaged in farming for a time, and 
then was employed in the office of the clerk of the court 
at Ashboro. In April, 1866, he began his career as a 
merchant at Egypt Depot, Chatham county, in which he 
has continued to the present, meeting with marked suc¬ 
cess. Since 1879 he has been a valued citizen and enter¬ 
prising business man at the town of Gulf. For ten years 
he discharged the duties of postmaster at Egypt Depot. 
Mr. Russell has three children living, Herbert A., Paul¬ 
ine S., and Edna K. 

David Simons Sanders, a prominent merchant of Beau¬ 
fort, and a veteran of the Forty-first regiment, North 
Carolina troops, was born in Onslow county, in 1844. In 
1857 his home was made in Carteret county, where he 
enlisted, in November, 1861, as a private in Company E, 
Forty-first regiment, or Ninth cavalry, with which he 
served until, in 1864, he was transferred to Company H 
of the Tenth North Carolina heavy artillery. He was one 
of General Martin’s couriers when he took Newport, 
and was also courier for General Hoke in his raid around 
New Bern, N. C. His first fight was at the battle of 
New Bern. He participated in the Seven Days’ cam¬ 
paign before Richmond, in June and July, 1862, and in 
November of the same year, while in the fight at Batch- 
elder’s creek, near New Bern, was captured by the enemy, 
after which he was held as a prisoner of war, at New 
Bern five months and at Governor’s island, N. Y., a 
week, and then being paroled, was exchanged two 
months later. He subsequently took part in the fight¬ 
ing about Suffolk and numerous skirmishes on the Black- 
water, defending the Confederate communications south 
of Richmond, and was in battle around Petersburg in 
1863. In April, 1865, he was finally paroled at Stantons- 
burg, after which he returned to his old home in Carteret 
county, and in 1865 was married to Emily F. Sabiston. 
For many years he has conducted a mercantile business 
with much success at Beaufort. Mr. Sanders has five 
children living: William A., Kate E., wife of W. P. 
Smith; Luther D., Susan C., and Charlotte V. His 
brother, John W. Sanders, now living in the same 
county, held the rank of second lieutenant in Company 
H, Tenth artillery, and was acting captain at the close 
of the war. 

JNc 69 


724 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Lieutenant Calvin Cowles Sanford, of Mocksville, now 
a leading business man of his town, was born in Davie 
county, October 15, 1843, and at the age of fifteen years 
made his home at Farmington, where he enlisted in the 
Confederate service as a private of Company F, Forty- 
second regiment, North Carolina troops, March 18, 1862. 
He was stationed on guard duty at Salisbury and Lynch¬ 
burg at the beginning of his military career, served under 
General Pettigrew in the campaigning on the Blackwater 
river, and in the fall of 1863 was with his regiment 
assigned to the brigade of General Martin. This brigade 
gained a handsome victory at Newport, occupied Ply¬ 
mouth after its capture, and soon afterward won distinc¬ 
tion in Virginia in the defeat of Butler at the Howlett 
house, where Colonel Brown was shot in the head, Lieu¬ 
tenant Sanford was wounded in the arm, and 20 of his 
company were disabled. Subsequently he took part in 
the fighting on the Cold Harbor line, the battles of 
Petersburg, the defense of the Petersburg intrenchments 
and the lines north of the James, until ordered, new 
under the brigade command of General Kirkland, to the 
relief of Fort Fisher. There the gallant North Carolini¬ 
ans were not permitted to fight as they desired, and the 
famous stronghold fell into the hands of the enemy. His 
last battles were Kinston and Bentonville, after which 
he was surrendered with Johnston’s army. His gallant 
service was recognized by promotion to sergeant and 
later to lieutenant. For thirty-two years he has been a 
merchant at Mocksville, pursuing an honorable and suc¬ 
cessful career, in the meantime being four times elected 
sheriff of his county, Davie, for two years each, making 
eight years in all. 

Captain Henry Savage, of Wilmington, formerly a sol¬ 
dier and official of the Confederate States government, 
was born at Wilmington, in 1834, where for a number of 
years, subsequent to 1850, he was in the naval stores 
business with his brother. In 1853 he was one of the 
organizers of the militia company, known as the Wil¬ 
mington light infantry, in which he held the rank of jun¬ 
ior second lieutenant. With this command, which became 
Company G of the Eighth, later the Eighteenth, North 
Carolina regiment, he entered the Confederate service in 
April, 1861, and in June was promoted to captain of his 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY, 


725 


company. He served in Virginia, in the brigade of General 
Branch, and participated in the battles of Hanover Court 
House and the Seven Days’ campaign before Richmond, 
escaping serious injury from the enemy’s bullets, though 
hit several times, but falling a victim to disease as the re¬ 
sult of his arduous service and exposure. He was sent to 
hospital at Richmond, and a few days later was forwarded 
to his home on furlough. Four or five months afterward, 
having in a measure recovered strength, he attempted 
to rejoin his regiment, but suffering a relapse en route, 
returned home, and accepted an honorable discharge. 
In the early part of 1863 he was appointed by President 
Davis collector of customs at the port of Wilmington and 
depositary for the Confederate States treasury, and the 
duties of this position occupied him until the close of the 
struggle for independence. The port of Wilmington, as 
is well known, was the great entry port for the South, 
and his office was one of importance. After the fall of 
Fort Fisher he retired to Raleigh, and later establishing 
his office in a railroad car, moved west as necessity 
demanded until the fall of the government. He is now 
a prominent citizen of Wilmington, where he held the 
office of city clerk and treasurer from 1877 to 1883. He 
is adjutant of Cape Fear camp, No. 254, United Confed¬ 
erate Veterans. 

Captain James P. Sawyer was born in Edneyville, N. 
C., in 1837, and removed to Asheville in infancy. In 
that city he grew to manhood and there received his 
education. He entered the Confederate service in April, 
1861, in Company A of the Twenty-fifth North Carolina 
infantry, as orderly-sergeant, and soon after was made 
regimental commissary with rank of captain, serving as 
such for about one year. He then resigned and was 
made shipping agent of the North Carolina salt works at 
Saltville, Va. He was there placed in command of a 
battery and served in that capacity until October, 1864, 
when he went to Petersburg, Va. There he rejoined his 
old company and was made chief clerk at headquarters 
of Gen. R. H. Anderson. He continued to hold this 
position until just before the surrender at Appomattox, 
when he was called upon to act as adjutant of the^regi- 
ment. After the war he returned to Asheville, N. C., 
and engaged in business as a clerk until 1870, when he 


726 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


commenced general merchandising in Asheville, which 
business he still carries on. In 1879 he was elected 
president of the bank of Asheville (the first one organ¬ 
ized in that city after the war). He remained president 
about ten years and then resigned. Soon after this the 
Battery Park bank was organized and he was elected its 
president. He is still holding this position. He is also 
chief of staff of Brig.-Gen. James M. Ray, commanding 
the Fourth brigade, U. C. V. He also belongs to Zeb 
Vance camp, Asheville, N. C. He is president of the 
board of directors of the State insane asylum at Morgan- 
ton, N. C. He is past grand master of the order of 
Odd Fellows of the State, and was representative to the 
grand lodge, which met in Boston, in September, 1898. 

John Catre Scarborough, a distinguished educator of 
North Carolina, was born in Wake county, September 22, 
1841, the son of Daniel Scarborough, a native of the same 
county. The Scarborough family, of English descent, 
has an honorable record of several generations in the 
State. His mother, Cynthia Horton, was of Scotch 
descent. He was prepared for college at Buffalo acad¬ 
emy, but abandoned his studies in the spring of 1861 to 
answer the call of the State. On April 16, 1861, he 
enlisted in Company K, Fourth regiment of volunteers, 
as a private. With this regiment, known later as the 
Fourteenth, State troops, he served until January, 1863, 
as sergeant of his company, and was then, at his request, 
transferred to Company I, First regiment State troops, 
with which he served during the remainder of the war. 
He participated in the battles of Williamsburg, Seven 
Pines, Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill, White Oak Swamp, 
Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, fighting during the 
Seven Days’ campaign in the sharpshooter corps; was in 
the famous defense of the South mountain passes, and 
was one of the Confederate heroes of the “bloody lane” 
at Sharpsburg. Captured by the enemy at the latter 
battle, he was taken to Fort Delaware, but after a con¬ 
finement of twenty-eight days, had the good fortune to 
be one of the last prisoners exchanged under the Hill- 
Dix cartel. After about thirty days at home, he was 
again at the front and participated in the battle of Fred¬ 
ericksburg. Beginning with the spring of 1863, he was 
in all the following battles of his command, including 


CONFEDERA TE Ml LIT A R Y IIIS TOR Y. 


727 


Chancellorsville, Winchester, Gettysburg, Mine Run, the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and the cam¬ 
paign thence to Richmond, including Cold Harbor. He 
went with Early’s command to Lynchburg, engaged in 
the pursuit of Hunter down the valley, and took part in 
the capture of Harper’s Ferry, the battle of Monocacy, 
the demonstration against Washington, and the battles at 
Snicker’s Gap, Winchester, Bear River, Fisher’s Hill and 
Cedar Creek, in the fall of 1864, receiving in the last 
fight a severe wound in the thigh from a minie ball. 
He was disabled, in consequence, until March, 1865, 
when he returned to his regiment at Petersburg, in time 
to share the last fighting there and march with Lee to 
Appomattox, where he had the honor of taking part in 
the last charge, April 9th. On his return he worked on 
his father’s farm, aiding in providing for the family; 
then determined to complete his education, he entered 
Wake Forest college, where he was graduated in 1869. 
For two years he acted as a tutor at the college, and then 
in 1871 opened an academy at Selma, which he conducted 
successfully until, in 1876, he was elected State superin¬ 
tendent of public instruction, as the nominee of the Dem¬ 
ocratic party. By re-election, in 1880, he held this office 
eight years. In March, 1889, he was appointed commis¬ 
sioner of labor statistics for a term of two years, and was 
reappointed in 1891. In 1892, being again elected State 
superintendent, he discharged the duties of that office for 
a third term, ending in January, 1897. His ability was 
so signally shown in this position that he was renom¬ 
inated by his party in 1896, but the election resulted 
adversely to the whole ticket. Since June, 1897, he has 
held the office of president of the Chowan Baptist female 
institute at Murfreesboro. Mr. Scarborough was mar¬ 
ried, in 1876, to Julia Vass Moore, of Johnston county, 
and they have three children living: Hartwell V., Annie 
R., and Julia C. Two brothers of Mr. Scarborough were 
in the Confederate service, one of whom died in the 
hands of the enemy after the Sharpsburg campaign, and 
one, though twice wounded, survived the war and died 
at Wake Forest in 1890. An uncle, Amos Scarborough, 
gave four sons to the service, all of whom lost their lives. 

John F. Shackelford, of Tarboro, N. C., was born 
in Lowndes county, Ala., August 1, 1846, whence in boy- 


728 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


hood he removed with his parents to Wilmington. He 
was educated at the Hillsboro military academy until, in 
January, 1862, when he entered the Confederate service 
at Charleston, S. C., but was refused on account of his 
youth. Returning to Wilmington, he joined the Sixty- 
first North Carolina regiment as a volunteer, though 
under age, and a few months later entered the blockade¬ 
running service between Nassau and Wilmington. In this 
service, of such vital importance to the Confederacy, he 
was one of the most daring and adventurous spirits. 
During the course of his career he served several months 
on the famous cruiser Tallahassee, was captured at sea 
on Confederate States steamer Mary Amno, Captain 
Dexter, by the Grand Gulf, Captain Winslow, and sub¬ 
sequently imprisoned at Fort Macon, Fort Norfolk and 
Fort Monroe six months, and taken to New York and 
paroled. Afterward he made two trips from New York 
to Mexico with arms and munitions of war, for the Con¬ 
federate government, which were landed in Mexico and 
taken across the border. He was also in several engage¬ 
ments. After the close of hostilities he saw service in 
Mexico in the Maximilian war, then went to Baltimore 
and found employment as a clerk until 1870, when he 
made his home at Tarboro. He has prospered in 
business, and in June, 1895, was elected president of the 
bank of Tarboro. In 1885 he married Kate S. Red¬ 
mond, and they have one child, Maud Dudley Shack¬ 
elford. 

Lieutenant Charles W. Shaw, a gallant Confederate 
veteran of Southern Pines, Moore county, was born at 
that place, July 14, 1839. Two of his brothers lost their 
lives in the Confederate service, Thomas B. Shaw, quar¬ 
termaster-sergeant of the Twenty-sixth regiment, and 
Dr. David B. Shaw, surgeon of the same command. 
They were the sons of Charles C. Shaw, a soldier of the 
war of 1812, and are descendants of a Scottish ancestor 
who came to America about 1776. Lieutenant Shaw 
was educated at Carthage and then engaged in teaching 
school, being thus occupied in Richmond county at the 
beginning of the great war. In May, 1862, he enlisted 
in the first company that left that county, Company H of 
the Twenty-sixth regiment, State troops, and beginning 
as a private, was promoted corporal after the battle of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 729 

Gettysburg, where he was slightly wounded; became 
second lieutenant in November, 1863, and was trans¬ 
ferred to Company D, Forty-eighth regiment, and after 
the battle of Reams’ Station was promoted to first lieu¬ 
tenant. He shared all the famous battles of his com¬ 
mands, the Seven Days’ campaign, Malvern Hill, Gettys¬ 
burg, the Wilderness, Reams’ Station and the fighting 
about Petersburg. At Reams’ Station he was shot 
through the left thigh, and then going into battle on the 
Petersburg lines upon crutches, was struck down by a 
piece of shell and reported killed. But he hobbled back 
to the lines during the night, and was on duty until fur¬ 
loughed in March, 1865. Since then he has been engaged 
in agriculture, and has enjoyed a happy and successful 
life. Ever since 1866 he has been retained in office as a 
magistrate, and he has during three terms served as 
county commissioner. By his marriage, in 1867, to Kate 
B. Blue, he has four children: Hattie, William, Katie, 
and John. Rev. Angus Robertson Shaw, nephew of the 
foregoing, born in Chatham county, December 6, 1858, 
is one of those survivors of the patriotic families of the 
Confederate era who prize the duty of preserving the 
heroic records of their kinsmen, and defending their 
honor against unjust aspersion. He was educated in the 
university of North Carolina, and soon after leaving that 
institution, in 1882, entered the theological seminary at 
Princeton, N. J., where he was graduated in 1886. He 
was ordained at Lumberton, N. C., September 28, 1887, 
and then entered upon the ministry of the Presbyterian 
church. After service for one year as an evangelist at 
Fayetteville, he was in Texas as a pastor until June, 
1897, when he became pastor of the Presbyterian church 
at Henderson, N. C. He has occupied a prominent 
position in his presbytery, was trustee of Daniel Baker 
college, Brownsville, Tex., and in addition to his regular 
pastoral work and evangelistic labors, he has been a fre¬ 
quent contributor to the religious press. In 1889 he was 
married to Lilian Lee, daughter of David Worth Porter, 
of Ashboro, and grandniece of Governor Worth. They 
have three children: Egbert Worth, Lilian Eloise, and 
Angus Robertson, Jr. 

Colonel Henry Muchmore Shaw was bom November 
20, 1817, at Newport, R. I., but in early life he located 


730 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY,, 


in Currituck county, N. C., and continued to reside there 
up to his death. He was married, April 2, 1836, to Mary 
Riddick Trotman, of Camden county, who, with three 
children, William B., Henry M. and Mary T., survived 
him. He was a physician by profession, and up to the 
time he entered public life and participated actively in 
politics, enjoyed a very large and lucrative practice. He 
was also a successful planter and often found rest and 
relaxation from the anxieties of his profession and the 
turmoil of politics, upon his well kept farm. In politics 
he was a Democrat. He was early elected to the State 
senate and from there he was called to the leadership of 
the Democracy of the First congressional district, and was 
twice elected to the house of representatives from that 
district. In the national legislature he took a prominent 
part. In debate he was strong and aggressive, but fair. 
In 1861, when the legislature of his State called a consti¬ 
tutional convention to consider the State’s relation to the 
Federal government, he was chosen with great una¬ 
nimity, by the people of Currituck county, to represent 
them in that acute crisis. His service in that body 
ended his brilliant civic and political career; for long 
before its final adjournment, he resigned and joined the 
army of the South. He was appointed and commis¬ 
sioned colonel of the Eighth regiment of North Carolina 
State troops. Fie organized his regiment at Warrenton, 
N. C., in July and August, 1861, and on the fall of Hat- 
teras he was ordered to take his regiment to Roanoke 
island, it having been transferred to the Confederate 
government and made part of its forces. Colonel Shaw 
was a disciplinarian without being a martinet, and made 
good use of his time and opportunity after his arrival on 
the island to drill and discipline his regiment. The 
immediate command of the island fell to him as ranking 
officer about the end of the year, and it was about this 
time that the news of the organization of the Burnside 
expedition was received in the South. As commanding 
officer he laid before his superiors the condition of the 
defenses of the island. Gen. Henry A. Wise, with a 
small body of troops, was sent to the defense of the island, 
but General Wise took up his headquarters at Nag’s 
Head, a place separated from the island by Roanoke 
sound, and distant from the island about four miles. 
Burnside’s fleet began to enter Hatteras inlet in January, 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


731 


1862, and assembled in Pamlico sound preparatory to its 
attack upon the island. On or about February 6, 1862, 
the great fleet hove in sight and anchored several miles 
distant. While General Wise was nominally in com¬ 
mand, he was too far distant to direct the actual move¬ 
ment of the troops on the island, and besides he was ill at 
the time, so the real command and responsibility rested 
with Colonel Shaw. The great fleet of gunboats, which 
accompanied the expedition under Admiral Goldsboro, 
opened a furious bombardment on the morning of Feb¬ 
ruary 7th, and late in the afternoon, under the cover of 
the guns of Admiral Goldsboro, Burnside landed a large 
force upon the south end of the island. Colonel Shaw 
had less than 2,500 troops, all told, and on the morning 
of the 8th he found himself greatly outnumbered by a 
well-equipped army. The Federals began their advance 
on the Confederate position about daylight. Deducting 
the companies and battalions, which were actually neces¬ 
sary to man and defend the forts and other defenses on 
Croatan side of the north end of the island, Colonel 
Shaw had not more than 1,200 available troops to oppose 
Burnside’s advance. Neither courage nor strategy could 
withstand such a force, and a surrender was inevitable. 
The prisoners were detained by General Burnside on the 
island and on ships about two weeks and were then 
paroled. Colonel Shaw and his regiment were ex¬ 
changed in September, and he at once proceeded to reor¬ 
ganize his command and prepare it for active service. 
In the fall of 1862 he was in command at Kinston, N. C., 
and while there he had repeated skirmishes with the 
enemy between that place and New Bern, which was 
then in the hands of the Federals. In December of that 
year his regiment had a sharp engagement with General 
Foster at Neuse river, near Goldsboro. The early part 
of 1863 was spent in camp near Wilmington, and in the 
early spring the regiment went to Charleston, and was 
on James island skirmishing with the enemy during the 
heavy artillery engagement in which the monitor Keo¬ 
kuk was sunk, in April of that year. When this threat¬ 
ened attack on Charleston was over, the regiment 
returned to Wilmington. General Gilmore landed on 
Morris island early in July, 1863, and commenced his 
famous siege of Charleston. Clingman’s brigade, to 
which Colonel Shaw’s regiment was attached, was imme- 


732 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


diately ordered to its defense, arriving in that city on 
July nth. From then to December 6th, when his regi¬ 
ment was ordered to Petersburg, Va., he was almost con¬ 
stantly under fire. He served with his regiment on 
James island, Morris island, Sullivan’s island, in Battery 
Wagner, Battery Gregg, Fort Moultrie, and where the 
fight was hottest. In July, August and September, the 
heat of the sun and the fire of the enemy, by day and by 
night, made Morris island almost a hell on earth, but 
Colonel Shaw bore himself so bravely and so cheerfully 
that his command won for itself high praise. His great 
courage and coolness in battle made him the idol of his 
regiment. From Charleston his regiment went to Peters¬ 
burg and from Petersburg it was sent to North Carolina, 
about the ist of February, 1864, to form a part of an 
expedition against New Bern. In the early dawn of 
the morning of February 1, 1864, while the sun yet 
refused to look upon the deed about to be done, Colonel 
Shaw was suddenly killed. He was sitting on his horse 
at the head of his regiment, surrounded by General Cling- 
man and his staff and several other mounted officers, 
waiting for the advance guard to clear the way across 
Batchelder’s creek. A stray ball, fired by the enemy at the 
advance guard, struck Colonel Shaw on the cheek, and 
passing diagonally through his head, came out behind 
his ear, killing him instantly. He fell from his horse 
dead. Thus fell one of the strongest, bravest and best 
men who gave their lives to the cause of the South. 

Captain Norman Leslie Shaw, one of the leading busi¬ 
ness men of Warrenton, N. C., was born at Murfrees¬ 
boro, April 3, 1842, and was educated at Emory and 
Henry college, Virginia, and at Chapel Hill university of 
North Carolina. He then engaged in btisiness at Har- 
rellsville, N. C., and in February, 1861, was married to 
Mary Olivia McDade, of Chapel Hill. Leaving home 
and business on the call of his State, he enlisted in Jan¬ 
uary, 1862, as second lieutenant of Company D, Seven¬ 
teenth North Carolina State troops, Col. W. F. Martin. 
A year later he was promoted to first lieutenant, and soon 
afterward was appointed adjutant of the regiment. In 
1864, upon the resignation of the captain of Company D, 
he was promoted to that rank, in which he served during 
the latter part of the war, He was identified with the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


733 


career of his gallant regiment, under the brigade com¬ 
mand of Generals Martin and Kirkland, Hoke’s division, 
and participated in the battles of Drewry’s Bluff, Ber¬ 
muda Hundred, Howlett’s House, Cold Harbor, Peters¬ 
burg, and took part in the defense of the Petersburg 
lines until Hoke’s division was ordered to Wilmington in 
December. In North Carolina he participated in the 
engagements at Washington, the battle of the ram Albe¬ 
marle, Goldsboro, Goshen Swamp, Mount Olive, White¬ 
hall, Kinston, New Bern, Southwest Creek, near Golds¬ 
boro, Sugar Loaf Hill, Fort Fisher, and several minor 
encounters during the retreat from Wilmington toward 
Raleigh, his last battle being at Bentonville. While in 
the trenches at Petersburg, he was wounded in the hip 
by a fragment of shell, which disabled him for three 
months. After the close of hostilities, Captain Shaw 
resided at Harrellsville, where he was for fifteen years 
engaged in mercantile business. His wife dying in 
1883, he was two years later married to Jennie, widow of 
Capt. George B. McDowell, of Edenton, and he removed 
to the latter place in 1885, and for three years edited the 
Albemarle Enquirer, the Democratic organ in the First 
congressional district. His second wife lived but a short 
time, and in 1887 he was united to Della M., widow of 
Col. William A. Jenkins, of Warren ton, former attorney- 
general of the State. Captain Shaw, while residing at 
Harrellsville, filled the positions of chairman of the 
board of county commissioners and judge of the inferior 
court. At Warrenton he is regarded as a leading influ¬ 
ential citizen. In the Baptist church he is prominent as 
an active working layman, being the moderator of the 
Tar River association. He has served two terms as 
grand dictator of the Knights of Honor of the State, and 
is one of the leading promoters of the Thomasville 
orphan asylum. By his first marriage he has three chil¬ 
dren living: Nannie Eloise, Dora Dunn, Addie McDade. 

Lieutenant William Brenton Shaw, now an attorney 
at law, practicing in Henderson, N. C., was born and 
reared in Currituck county, N. C. He is the son of Col. 
Henry M. Shaw, the gallant commander of the Eighth 
North Carolina State troops, who fell in battle February 
i, 1864, in an engagement near New Bern, N. C. Col¬ 
onel Shaw was, when a very young man, sent to the 


734 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


State senate, and twice, before the war, was honored 
with a seat in the United States Congress. W. B. Shaw, 
at the beginning of the war, in 1861, at the age of sixteen, 
was commissioned by the governor of North Carolina a 
drill-master, with the rank of second lieutenant, and he 
at once entered the service and drilled the various com¬ 
panies of his father’s regiment, which was then being 
formed. In the fall of 1861 the regiment was ordered 
into active service upon Roanoke island, where the drill¬ 
ing of troops continued until January, 1862, when Lieu¬ 
tenant Shaw was sent by his father to the Virginia mil¬ 
itary institute, where he prosecuted his studies until 
graduation, in 1865. As a cadet he held the grades of 
office in the corps, of corporal, then color-sergeant, and 
then first lieutenant of Company A. In 1864, and up to 
the surrender, the corps of cadets was many times taken 
to the field in active service, was several times under 
fire, and in the battle of New Market lost over 50, killed 
and wounded. Lieutenant Shaw was a member of what 
is now known as the “war corps,’’ and justly enjo}^s the 
glory achieved by that noble band of boys. When the 
immortal Jackson fell, his body was taken to Lexington, 
Va., for burial. It was laid in state in his old classroom 
for two days, and Lieutenant Shaw was honored by 
being detailed as officer in charge. He commanded the 
detail that guarded the body, also the detachment of 
artillery that fired half-hour guns while it lay in state. 
His detail carried the remains to their resting place, 
and under his immediate command the last salute was 
fired over the hero’s grave, Colonel Shipp, then com¬ 
mandant of the corps, being in command of the whole 
funeral cortege. In his graduating class, Lieutenant 
Shaw was one of four who were selected for commis¬ 
sions in the Confederate States engineer corps, to take 
effect upon graduation, in July, 1865, but the surrender 
ended this bright hope. After the surrender he returned 
to his home, and seeing no hope of pursuing his chosen 
profession of civil engineering, he devoted himself to the 
law, and obtained his license from the supreme court in 
1868, but did not begin active practice until 1879, from 
which time on he has enjoyed a highly honorable and 
successful career as a lawyer. In 1874, very much 
against his will, he was induced to become the Demo¬ 
cratic candidate for State senator, to represent seven 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


735 


counties. He prosecuted a vigorous canvass and was 
elected. Since that time, while he has taken an active 
part in every campaign, he has not sought political pre¬ 
ferment. He is well known in the political councils of 
his party, and enjoys the reputation of being one of the 
first-class advocates and campaign orators in his State. 
He is a consistent and influential member of the Baptist 
church, and his proudest distinction is, he has always 
lived an honest and sober Christian life. 

William E. Shaw, a prominent manufacturer of Char¬ 
lotte, is one of the youngest living veterans of the Con¬ 
federate States army. He was born at Charlotte, March 
12, 1848, son of Robert and Margaret (Bolton) Shaw, 
and in the fall of 1863, being but fifteen and a half years 
old, enlisted in Poague*s battalion of artillery, Tenth 
North Carolina regiment. With this command he was on 
duty at Petersburg, participating in the operations of the 
artillery during the siege, and was frequently engaged 
on the retreat to Appomattox, where he was surrendered 
with the army of Northern Virginia. Then returning to 
Charlotte, he was sent to Newark, N. J., by his father, to 
perfect himself in the trade of a harness-maker. In 1879 
he established his present business, which has grown to 
very large proportions and includes in its departments an 
extensive tannery establishment. He has served as aider- 
man of the city and was instrumental in the inauguration 
of the present fire department. On May 10, 1869, he was 
married to Mary L., daughter of Benjamin M. and Eliza¬ 
beth (Parker) Preston. They have seven children living. 

Captain Richard B. Shearer, a member of a distin¬ 
guished Southern family who fell in battle at the Monoc- 
acy, Md., was born in Appomattox county, Va., in 1836. 
He was graduated with first honors at Hampden-Sidney 
college, after which he taught two years, and then 
entered the university of Virginia, also placing himself 
under the care of Roanoke presbytery as a candidate for 
the ministry. About the close of his second year in the 
university the war began, and hesitating only to decide 
if the life of a soldier were compatible with his consecra¬ 
tion to the ministry, he enlisted in a volunteer company 
from his native county, which was assigned to the Forty- 
second Virginia regiment. His modesty, self-denial and 


736 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


regard for others, as well as his unflinching bravery, won 
the esteem of his superiors and the love of his comrades, 
and he speedily rose by successive promotions to the rank 
of captain. He participated in the Shenandoah Valley 
campaign, under Jackson, and afterward fought under 
Ewell and Early until his patriotic devotion was sealed 
with his life blood on the famous field of Monocacy, July 
9, 1864. Captain Shearer was one of the sons of John A. 
and Ruth A. (Webber) Shearer. His father, who died 
in 1897, aged eighty-eight years, was an elder in the old 
Concord church and a descendant of one of Cromwell’s 
Ironsides, who settled upon confiscated estates in Ire¬ 
land. The children of John and Ruth Shearer, besides 
Captain Shearer, were John B., Elizabeth M., Mary R., 
James W. and Henry Clay. James W., who is now a 
Presbyterian minister at St. Louis, Mo., and Henry Clay, 
a resident of Appomattox county, also served in the Con¬ 
federate army. The eldest son, John Bunyan Shearer, 
D. D., LL. D., since 1888 president of Davidson college, 
North Carolina, though not a soldier of the Confederacy, 
honors and reveres the memory of all who suffered for 
the cause of Southern independence. He was born at 
the family home, July 19, 1832, was graduated at Hamp- 
den-Sidney college in 1851, and at the university of Vir¬ 
ginia in 1854; studied theology in Union seminary, 
Va., and was licensed to preach in April, 1857. He 
preached at Chapel Hill until 1862, and subsequently in 
Virginia, until called to the presidency of Stewart col¬ 
lege, Tennessee, in 1870. Since then he has been very 
active in the cause of higher education, and is particularly 
distinguished on account of the energy with which he 
has advocated and introduced the systematic study of the 
English Bible. His Bible course syllabus is in use in 
many schools and colleges. As president of Davidson 
college he has become identified with North Carolina, 
where the value of his noble work is fully appreciated. 

Dr. Joseph C. Shepard, of Wilmington, N. C., promi¬ 
nent among the physicians of that city, was born in New 
Hanover county, in 1840. He was graduated at the State 
university in 1858, and in medicine at the university of 
New York in i860, after which he continued his studies 
at Paris, France. Early in the fall of 1861 he enlisted in 
the Confederate States service, and being commissioned 


• * 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 737 

assistant surgeon, was assigned to duty on the coast, with 
Adams’ battery. In the fall of 1864 he was transferred 
to Fort Fisher, where he remained through the first 
bombardment and the second, at the latter being cap¬ 
tured with the brave defenders. He was sent as a prisoner 
of war to Governor’s island and held there until early in 
March following, when he returned to duty in North 
Carolina and was assigned to the hospital at Greensboro, 
where he remained until after the surrender. Since then 
he has been engaged in the practice in New Hanover 
county and Wilmington. 

William B. Shepard, a leading citizen of Edenton, is a 
native of Elizabeth City, son of William B. Shepard, a 
lawyer, who died in 1852, after a prominent career as a 
jurist, member of the legislature and representative in 
Congress for a period of eight years. His family has 
been identified with North Carolina since the colonial 
period. Before completing his education at the univer¬ 
sity of Virginia, in 1862, he entered the Confederate 
States service as an aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. 
T. J. Pettigrew, with whom he served in the campaigns 
of the army of Northern Virginia until the general was 
killed in the battle of Falling Waters, following the 
encounter at Gettysburg. Mr. Shepard then became a 
member of Selden’s battery, stationed at Mobile at that 
time, and was in active service with this artillery com¬ 
mand during the Atlanta campaign, taking part in the 
series of battles which began with Resaca. Under Hood 
he fought in the three famous battles about Atlanta, and at 
Franklin and Nashville, Tenn.; and finally, again under 
J. E. Johnston’s command, took part in the campaign in 
the Carolinas and was surrendered at Greensboro. At the 
close of this gallant and commendable service he was but 
twenty years of age. At Gettysburg, in the world- 
famous charge upon Cemetery hill, his horse was shot 
under him, and in various other hotly-contested battles, 
his personal bravery was manifested. Since the war he 
has engaged in agricultural occupations, with much suc¬ 
cess. He is a director of the bank of Edenton, a trustee 
of the university of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., and 
was a member of the legislature of North Carolina in 
1893. The wife of Mr. Shepard was Mildred, daughter 
of Hon. Paul C. Cameron, of Hillsboro, N. C. 


738 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Captain James H. Sherrill, of Catawba, a veteran of 
General Ramseur’s old regiment, the Forty-ninth North 
Carolina, was born in Iredell county, in 1845, the son of 
Henderson Sherrill, who served several terms as repre¬ 
sentative of Catawba county in the North Carolina legis¬ 
lature. He entered the Confederate service, March 19, 
1862, as a sergeant of Company I, Forty-ninth regiment, 
and in the following June served before Richmond with 
his command, which was especially distinguished at the 
battle of Malvern Hill. He was with his regiment in the 
Maryland campaign, at the capture of Harper’s Ferry 
and the battle of Sharpsburg, and took part in the De¬ 
cember encounter at Fredericksburg. He was subse¬ 
quently on duty in North Carolina with Ransom’s bri¬ 
gade, which was at that time in effect the right wing of 
Lee’s army; met the enemy on the Chickahominy during 
the absence of the army in Pennsylvania, and in January, 
1864, took part in. the operations against New Bern. 
About this time he was promoted to captain of Company 
A, which he commanded in the gallant fighting of his 
regiment at Drewry’s bluff and Bermuda Hundred, the 
battles of Petersburg and the long continued defense of 
the Confederate lines about that city. He took part in 
the fighting on the Weldon railroad near Petersburg, the 
battles of Five Forks and Sailor’s Creek, and finally sur¬ 
rendered at Appomattox. In the course of his services 
he was twice wounded. After the close of hostilities 
Captain Sherrill engaged in farming for a few years, 
and in 1869 removed to Texas. Returning to North 
Carolina in 1884, he resumed his agricultural operations 
and became interested in tobacco manufacturing. He 
served for some time as private secretary to Hon. A. C. 
Shuford, congressman for the Seventh North Carolina 
district. By his marriage, in 1877, to Mary J., daughter 
of Joseph Davidson, he has six children living: Oscar, 
Stella, Eula, Seth, Zoe and Ross. 

John Sherrill, of Catawba, a survivor of the gallant 
Twelfth regiment, North Carolina troops, was born in 
Iredell county, in 1836, a son of Henderson Sherrill. He 
was educated in the old field school and was occupied 
upon the farm until the spring of 1861, when he became 
a member of the Catawba county rifles. This became 
Company A of the Second regiment of volunteers, Sol- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


739 


omon Williams, colonel. After reorganization the regi¬ 
ment was known as the Twelfth. He was on duty with 
his command in the vicinity of Norfolk, Va., during 1861, 
and after the evacuation of that region was with General 
Branch at Gordonsville. In the battle of Hanover Court 
House, May 27, 1862, Mr. Sherrill was severely wounded, 
and in consequence was given a furlough of sixty days. 
He rejoined his regiment in the midst of the Maryland 
campaign and took part in the battles of South Mountain 
and Sharpsburg. Previous to the battle of Chancellors- 
ville he was detailed for duty as a courier, attached to 
brigade headquarters, the capacity in which he served 
during the remainder of the war. He participated in the 
three days’ battle of Gettysburg, the bloody struggle in 
the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania Court House; after 
Cold Harbor went with General Early on his expedition 
from Lynchburg to Harper’s Ferry and thence to Wash¬ 
ington city, fought in the Shenandoah valley battles of 
Winchester and Cedar Creek, and rejoined the main army 
before Petersburg in the winter of 1864. He was distin¬ 
guished for gallant and devoted duty during the fighting 
on Hatcher’s run and the various encounters during the 
retreat to Appomattox. Since the war he has met with 
much success in the peaceful vocation of a farmer. He 
was married, in 1866, to Sophronia Youant, who died in 
1894. 

Miles O. Sherrill, of Newton, N. C., a veteran of the 
Twelfth regiment, was born in Catawba county, in 1841, 
a son of Hiram Sherrill, a planter of considerable prom¬ 
inence. Mr. Sherrill left his school studies in April, 
1861, and enlisted in a volunteer company from Catawba 
county, which was assigned to the Second regiment of 
volunteers, commanded by Col. Sol Williams, and after¬ 
ward known as the Twelfth regiment. He rose to the 
rank of orderly-sergeant in his company, but declined a 
lieutenancy, which would have required his joining 
another command. During 1861 he served near Norfolk, 
Va. ; in May, 1862, participated in the battle of Hanover 
Court House, and with Gen. Samuel Garland’s brigade 
fought through the Seven Days’ battles before Rich¬ 
mond, after the sanguinary fight at Malvern Hill remain¬ 
ing all night on the field with the wounded soldiers. At 
the battle of South Mountain his younger brother, 

Nc 70 


740 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


James Albert Sherrill, a lad of seventeen years, was 
killed. At this time Sergeant Sherrill was disabled by 
illness, and his next battle was at Fredericksburg, where 
he had his hat destroyed by a fragment of shell. At 
Chancellorsville he shared the gallant service of his regi¬ 
ment, driving the enemy from their works and capturing 
many prisoners, and on the night of the first day’s bat¬ 
tle, while reconnoitering, he heard the command to halt 
and the fatal shots which put an end to the military 
career of their beloved general, Stonewall Jackson. At 
Gettysburg, Sherrill was among the heroic North Caro¬ 
linians who drove the enemy into Gettysburg, killing 
General Reynolds and routing his command, capturing a 
great many prisoners. In the spring of 1864, after sur¬ 
viving the terrific struggle in the Wilderness, he was 
stricken by a severe wound in the leg, at Spottsylvania 
Court House, and was captured by the enemy. The 
amputation of his leg, which became necessary, was per¬ 
formed on the field, and in this condition he was hauled 
in an ambulance to Aquia creek, thence via boat to 
Alexandria, upon his arrival barely retaining a spark of 
life. He lay in hospital at Alexandria and at Washing¬ 
ton until the following November, when he was trans¬ 
ferred to the military prison at Elmira, N. Y. At this 
place he witnessed many instances of harsh treatment of 
the prisoners, who also suffered from the character of 
their food. In the surgical ward the rations were not 
objectionable, but in other departments of the prison 
they were intolerable, and many a poor fellow died from 
privation. While a prisoner, his miseries were intensi¬ 
fied by an attack of smallpox. Finally being exchanged, 
in February, 1865, he returned to Richmond and thence 
to his home. After the restoration of peace, Mr. Sherrill 
attended Catawba college, and in 1868 was elected pro¬ 
bate judge and clerk of court, an office in which he served 
with marked efficiency until 1882. Subsequently he was 
a member of the legislature, one term each in the house 
and senate, and after this was connected with the inter¬ 
nal revenue office of his district until 1892, when he was 
again elected to the senate. Since then he has been 
engaged in life and fire insurance agency. Mr. Sherrill 
was married, May 1, 1867, to Sarah, daughter of Capt. 
Joseph Bost, captain in the Holcombe legion, killed at 
Stony Creek, near Petersburg, in 1864. Seven children 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


741 


are living: G arland, M. D., of Louisville, Ky. ; Bessie 
C., wife of S. L. Alderman; Edward Gilmer, of Hills¬ 
boro; Clarence O., a cadet at the West Point military 
academy; Mervin, Russell G., and Mary Lula. 

J. J. Shipman, adjutant of the camp of Confederate 
veterans at Brevard, Transylvania county, was born near 
that place in 1833, the youngest of eleven children, born 
to Hezekiah and Hannah (Rhodes) Shipman. His pater¬ 
nal grandfather, of Dutch ancestry, was a soldier in the 
war for American independence and one of the earliest 
settlers of western North Carolina. Young Shipman 
went from the farm in June, 1861, to enlist as a private 
in Company B, Twenty-fifth North Carolina regiment, 
and served with that command in the eastern part of the 
State and along the coast until the spring of 1862, when 
he went to Virginia and was soon in the thick of battle 
before Richmond. He participated in the heavy fight¬ 
ing during the Seven Days of carnage which resulted in 
the defeat of McClellan’s army, and on the last day, at 
Malvern hill, sustained an accidental injury of such 
severity as to disable him for further duty. After a 
month in hospital he was honorably discharged. Return¬ 
ing home, he was appointed the first clerk of the superior 
court of the newly created county of Transylvania, and 
he held this office until the fall of the government. Since 
then he has held other civil positions, and for twenty 
years has been magistrate of his township. He was mar¬ 
ried in December, 1862, to Margaret J. Neeley, and they 
have five children. 

Lieutenant Abel A. Shuford, of Hickory, one of the 
most prominent bankers and manufacturers of western 
North Carolina, was born in Catawba county, in 1842, 
son of Jacob H. Shuford, a farmer, and native of the 
same county. After receiving his education in the old 
field schools, he made his debut in business life as a clerk 
at Hickory, an occupation which was interrupted, in 
1861, by the call for troops for defense of the State. At 
the age of nineteen years he enlisted as a private in Com¬ 
pany F, Twenty-third regiment, North Carolina troops, 
under command of Col. J. F. Hoke, and was soon pro¬ 
moted to corporal and then to second sergeant. With 
his regiment he was in camp near Manassas, Va., until 


742 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the spring of 1862, and then was ordered to the peninsula, 
where in his first battle, Williamsburg, he carried the 
colors of his regiment. He fought at Seven Pines and 
in the Seven Days’ campaign, up to the battle of Cold 
Harbor, where he was severely wounded. After a season 
in hospital and at his home he was again with his com¬ 
rades at Martinsburg, after their return from Maryland, 
and engaged in the battles of Fredericksburg, Berryville 
and Winchester. He was then elected second lieutenant 
of his company, but the battle of Gettysburg, which fol¬ 
lowed, was his last. Slightly wounded in the first day’s 
fight, he was captured by the enemy and sent as a pris¬ 
oner of war to Fort Delaware, and three months later to 
Point Lookout, where he was held for eighteen months. 
Then being exchanged, he was given a furlough, during 
which the war came to an end. After farming for a time 
he made his home at Hickory and embarked in mercan¬ 
tile business with a small capital. In the years which 
have followed he has met with much success as a mer¬ 
chant, and is still interested in that business, but as a 
capitalist and manufacturer he is most widely known. In 

1891 he became the president of the Citizens’ bank, a 
year later merged in the First national bank, of which 
he is now the head; also is president of a bank at New¬ 
ton, and director of the Burke county bank at Morgan- 
ton. He is president of the Hickory manufacturing 
company and of the electric light company, and since 

1892 has been general manager of the Granite Falls cot¬ 
ton mills, which run 3,000 spindles. In educational 
work he has a responsible part as a trustee, both of the 
Catawba college and Claremont college. Officially he 
has rendered efficient service to his fellow-citizens as 
chairman of the Democratic county executive committee 
for the past fifteen years, as county commissioner and 
city alderman, and as member of the State legislature, in 
1884-85. He was married, in 1874, to Alda V., daughter 
of Dr. O. Campbell, and niece of Col. Reuben Campbell, 
of Statesville, N. C. 

Albert Meredith Simms, pastor of the Tabernacle Bap¬ 
tist church, at Raleigh, N. C., was born in 1847, in Cul¬ 
peper county, Va., and was educated in youth at the 
school of his father, Albert G. Simms, one of the most 
noted teachers of that period. This patriotic father gave 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


743 


five sons to the Confederate armies. The eldest, Joseph 
Montcalm Simms, enlisted early in 1861 as a private in 
the Hempstead county rifles, of Arkansas; rose to the 
rank of major, and in command of his regiment, was 
killed in the battle of Oak Hill, Mo., August, 1861. 
Thomas H. Simms, now residing at Hope, Ark., enlisted 
in the same regiment, and falling severely wounded in 
the battle of Oak Hill, was left for dead within ten paces 
of his brother’s body. Edmund B. served as a private in 
the Seventh Virginia infantry, took part in the charge of 
Pickett’s division at Gettysburg, and was killed at Mil¬ 
ford soon afterward. John G. B. Simms, now an attor¬ 
ney at Conway, Ark., and a former member of the legis¬ 
lature of that State, served in the Arkansas troops under 
General Garland. Albert Meredith Simms enlisted on 
his seventeenth birthday, June 20, 1864, as a private in 
Sturdivant’s battery, Sturdivant’s battalion, then at 
Petersburg, and served there seven months in the mortar 
batteries covering the line between the Appomattox river 
and the crater. On the retreat his company took its 
field guns and fought on the rear guard all the way to 
Appomattox Court House, including the battles of Farm- 
ville and Sailor’s Creek. At Appomattox, when the Fed¬ 
eral lines were closing around the remnant of the army, 
he escaped with his battery, and made a forced march to 
Lynchburg, where he and his comrades spiked their 
guns at 2 p. m., on the Sunday following the surrender, 
and were paroled. He subsequently farmed at his old 
home until 1867, when he entered Richmond college. 
After two years’ study he entered the ministry of the 
Baptist church, and was stationed twelve years in West 
Virginia, two years in Arkansas, and nine years in 
Texas, before coming, in 1893, to Raleigh. His talent and 
devotion to his sacred calling have made him many warm 
friends in his present home. Mr. Simms was married, 
in 1872, to Mary, daughter of Robert Stewart, a native 
of Bath county, Va., and they have three children: Eva 
B., Robert N., and Mattie Ina Ouida Simms. It is wor¬ 
thy of note, in connection with the devoted services of 
this family, that both the grandfathers of Albert G. 
Simms, the father, were soldiers of the revolution. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Peter J. Sinclair was born in the 
highlands of Scotland in 1837. His father was an emi- 


744 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


nent Presbyterian minister, who emigrated with his fam¬ 
ily to the United States, while the subject of this sketch 
was yet a youth, and settled in Pennsylvania, where the 
son studied law and was licensed to practice. He came 
to North Carolina and was admitted to the bar in 1858, 
and edited the North Carolinian, a strong Democratic 
paper, in Fayetteville. At the outbreak of the war, he 
volunteered with the Lafayette light infantry, Company 
F, First North Carolina volunteers, but soon after raised 
a company in Cumberland county, which was placed in 
the Fifth North Carolina infantry, Col. D. K. McRae, as 
Company A. After a few weeks in camp, at Halifax, his 
regiment went direct to Manassas, in Virginia, and was 
brigaded under General Longstreet and participated in 
the first battle of Manassas and in all the movements of 
the army of Northern Virginia in front of Union Mills 
and Fairfax Court House, during the first winter of the 
war. He was promoted to major in March, 1862. His 
regiment, having been transferred to Early’s brigade, 
went to the peninsula and did constant service in the 
trenches at Yorktown. On the retreat to the Chicka- 
hominy, he distinguished himself at the battle of Wil¬ 
liamsburg, where his horse was killed under him and he 
was severely bruised. He was in the battle of Seven 
Pines and was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of his 
regiment in May, 1862; he took part in the battles around 
Richmond, and was wounded at Cold Harbor, but recov¬ 
ered in time to be with his regiment at Fredericksburg. 
He resigned his commission in 1863. After peace was 
established, he resumed the practice of law at Marion, in 
McDowell county, where he has continued to reside up 
to the present time, engaged in a large practice in many 
of the western counties of North Carolina, and has for 
years been prominent in his profession and in the 
development of the section where he resides. He is coun¬ 
sel for the Ohio River and Charleston railroad company. 
Although, like most of his comrades of the Confederate 
army, he has passed the meridian, he is still active and 
vigorous and devoted to the duties of a large and success¬ 
ful practice. 

Lieutenant William Slade, a veteran of Barringer’s 
cavalry brigade, now a leading merchant of Williamston, 
N. C., was born in Martin county, in 1841. He was edu- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 745 

cated in the schools of his native county and at Trinity 
college, Randolph county. In October, 1861, he entered 
the Confederate service as orderly-sergeant of an inde¬ 
pendent cavalry company, organized in Martin county, 
which, about a year later, was mustered in as Company 
K of the Third North Carolina regiment of cavalry. In 
the summer of 1862 he was elected first lieutenant of his 
company, and in this rank continued throughout the 
remainder of the war. While on duty in North Caro¬ 
lina, through 1862 and 1863, he was engaged in various 
garrison and reconnoissance duty, and in skirmishes with 
the enemy, including two in Martin county, near James- 
ville and at Foster’s mill; and in Virginia in 1863 and 
1864, under the brigade command of General Barringer 
of General Hampton’s division, he fought at Drewry’s 
bluff, Hanovertown ferry and Ashland, Hanover, Cold 
Harbor, and the various cavalry engagements around 
Petersburg during the campaign around Richmond in 
1863 and 1864 and the spring of 1865. After the close of 
hostilities he returned to his home, and after teaching 
school for a time, began his mercantile career as a clerk, 
embarking in business on his own account in 1876. He 
has been successful in business and is a valued citizen. 
In 1878 he was married to Cordelia Hassell, daughter of 
Elder C. B. Hassell. 

Lieutenant Thomas Wright Slocumb, of Goldsboro, a 
veteran of the Twenty-seventh regiment, North Carolina 
troops, was born near Goldsboro in 1842, the son of John 
C. Slocumb, born in the same county in 1811, died in 
1881. His grandfather was Jesse Slocumb, a native of 
the same county, who represented the New Bern district 
in the United States Congress, and died in 1820, while 
serving in his second term; and his great-grandfather, 
Ezekiel Slocumb, also a native of North Carolina, born 
in 1755, died in 1840, was a distinguished patriot, who 
held the rank of colonel in the revolutionary army. Mr. 
Slocumb was a cadet at the North Carolina military 
institute at Charlotte, from i860 until May 1, 1861, when 
he went to Raleigh, and after acting as drill-master 
about two weeks, enlisted with the Goldsboro Rifles, 
which was mustered in as Company A, Twenty-seventh 
regiment. In the fall of 1861 he became fourth sergeant, 
soon afterward first sergeant, and in April, 1862, was 


746 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


elected first lieutenant. He - took part in the battle of 
New Bern, in March, 1862, and then going to Virginia 
fought at Seven Pines and through the Seven Days’ bat¬ 
tles, at Harper’s Ferry and on the bloody field of Sharps- 
burg. His health then gave way and he was compelled 
to go home, where his condition not improving, he 
resigned his lieutenancy in October, 1862. In April, 
1863, he re-enlisted in Company H, First North Carolina 
cavalry, as a private, and served with that command in 
the cavalry fighting at Ashby’s Gap, Paris, Upperville, 
Williamsport, Gettysburg and Brandy Station. In the 
latter engagement, August 1, 1863, he was so severely 
wounded as to incapacitate him for further service in the 
field, but after his convalescence, in the fall of 1864, he 
was appointed assistant adjutant-general of North Caro¬ 
lina, and discharged the duties of that position on the 
staff of General Gatling, at Raleigh, until the surrender 
at Greensboro. Since 1872 Lieutenant Slocumb has 
been in the service of the Wilmington & Weldon railroad, 
now holding the position of agent at Goldsboro. By his 
marriage, in 1867, to Mary, daughter of Dr. Adam C. 
Davis, he has seven children living: Harriet H., widow 
of John J. Gay; Minnie D., Ashby P., Thomas W., John 
C., Mary D., and Rebecca H. 

James A. Smith, pastor of the Baptist church at Fair 
Bluff, N. C., as a boy participated in the war of the Con¬ 
federacy, manifesting the same courage and energy 
which have characterized his subsequent life. He is of 
Scotch-Irish, North Carolinian and Puritan descent, his 
father, James A. Smith, being a native of North Carolina 
and son of James Smith, who was born at Dublin, Ire¬ 
land, and his mother, Agnes J., being a daughter of 
Simon Baldwin, of Weathersfield, Conn., whose father 
was a captain in the war of 1812, and was descended 
from the Mayflower immigrants. Mr. Smith was born at 
Red Springs, April 6, 1846, and previous to the war stud¬ 
ied at the Bingham military school. In his seventeenth 
year he enlisted in the Confederate service as a private 
in Company D, First North Carolina heavy artillery, 
January 13, 1865, and was given a position as courier for 
Major-General Whiting. While serving in this capacity, 
he was with the troops at Fort Fisher, and on January 
15, 1865, during the bombardment and assault of that 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


747 


stronghold, was wounded. He was taken prisoner with 
the garrison and confined for six months at Point Look¬ 
out, Md., finally being released, June 9, 1865. On re¬ 
turning home he completed his education at the univer¬ 
sity of North Carolina and at Davidson college, where he 
was graduated in 1871. In 1874 he completed a course 
of study at the theological seminary at Columbia, and 
entered the ministry of the Baptist church. He now has 
in charge the church at Fair Bluff and two neighboring 
churches. He has been of great service to education and 
the general improvement of the communities with which 
his lot has been cast, as chairman of the board of educa¬ 
tion of Columbus county, four years, as the founder of 
the Fair Bluff Times, the first newspaper published 
at Fair Bluff, as the leader in the work of ridding his 
county of saloons, as the main factor in establishing the 
State Line Chautauqua Sunday-school. Mr. Smith was 
happily married, November 20, 1874, to Lula, daughter 
of Silas Fulton, of Savannah, Ga. Their children are: 
Agnes L., J. Fulton, Lahlie, James P., Albert C., Willie 
S., Lansing B., George W., and Edward D. Mr. Smith is 
now in his fifty-third year, but is as strong and vigorous 
as ever. He is both pastor and editor, and is doing 
all in his power to elevate the section in which he 
lives. 

Thomas T. Smith, of Charlotte, was born at Greens¬ 
boro, Choctaw county, Miss., November 13, 1845, and 
served during the great war as a soldier in Mississippi 
commands. He is the son of Aaron Smith, who also was 
in the Confederate States service as a cavalryman, and 
was a member of the bodyguard of President Davis dur¬ 
ing his trip through the Carolinas and Georgia, in 1865, 
being captured and paroled while on that duty. His 
mother, Julia Ann Bays, was the granddaughter of a sol¬ 
dier of the war of 1812, two of whose sons served in the 
war with Mexico. Mr. Smith enlisted, August 1, 1861, 
in his fifteenth year, as a private in Company D, Fifteenth 
Mississippi regiment, and served with that command 
under General Crittenden at Fishing Creek, and under 
Albert Sidney Johnston in the battle of Shiloh. Soon 
afterward he was honorably discharged on account of 
physical disability, but on his recovery, early in Septem¬ 
ber, 1862, he re-enlisted in Company D of the Forty- 


748 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


third Mississippi regiment, Col. B. F. Moore, with which 
he served to the end of the war, with promotion to 
orderly-sergeant, and occasional detail as sergeant-major 
of the regiment. With this regiment he fought at Iuka, 
Corinth (where his colonel was killed), Chickasaw bayou, 
Snyder’s bluff, and in the trenches during the siege of 
Vicksburg. Here he was surrendered and paroled with his 
regiment, and after a short visit to his home, was in pa¬ 
role camp until exchanged early in 1864. Subsequently 
he joined the army under General Polk, which united 
with General Johnston at Resaca, Ga. He took part in 
the remainder of the Atlanta campaign, including several 
important battles, and after the fall of Atlanta, shared in 
the fatigues and perils of the Tennessee campaign of 
General Hood, including the battles of Franklin and 
Nashville. This long and honorable record was ended 
with the surrender of the army at Greensboro, N. C. 
While on his way home from that place he was taken sick, 
and found hospitable attention at the home of Lewis 
Boon, a planter, near Burlington, N. C., and before leav¬ 
ing there he was married, July 29, 1865, to Barbara, the 
daughter of his host. With his wife he proceeded to Mis¬ 
sissippi, but returned to North Carolina in 1867, and after 
farming a few years made his home at Charlotte. Since 
then he has been engaged in the railway service, six years 
as agent of the Carolina Central, at Charlotte, nine years 
as freight agent of the Richmond & Danville, at Atlanta, 
Ga., and subsequently with the Southern road at Charlotte. 
He has also served as alderman of Charlotte and six 
years on the school board. He has eleven children 
living. 

Wiley H. Smith, a prominent merchant of Goldsboro, 
whose career well exemplifies the indomitable pluck of 
the Confederate soldiers who have built up a new pros¬ 
perity on the ruins of the old, was born in Wayne county, 
in 1846, the son of William Smith, a native of the same 
county, of Scotch-Irish descent, who was a soldier in the 
war of 1812. Wiley H. was the youngest of four broth¬ 
ers who were in the Confederate ranks. Josiah W., who 
died in 1893, held the rank of captain in the North Caro¬ 
lina troops; Stephen J., a private in Company A, Twenty- 
seventh regiment, was killed at Sharpsburg, and Benja¬ 
min T. served three years in Colonel Nethercutt’s 


C ONFEDERA TE MI LIT A R Y HIS TOR V. 


749 


command, and in the Seventieth regiment. When about 
eighteen years of age the subject of this mention also 
enlisted, becoming a member of the independent com¬ 
pany of Capt. W. R. Bass, in March, 1864, with which he 
served through the year in provost duty at Wilmington 
and at Fort Lee, at the latter post holding the position 
of chief ordnance-sergeant. After the fall of Wilming¬ 
ton he went to Goldsboro and joined the Seventieth regi¬ 
ment, the last organized in the State, to which his com¬ 
pany was assigned in January, 1865. He then took part 
in the engagements at Cobb’s Mill and Kinston, but was 
mostly on detached duty until the surrender. The close 
of the war found the boy-soldier barefooted, bareheaded, 
penniless, with only a knowledge of farming and unable 
to read or write. Looking to him for aid, were a father, 
nearly eighty years old and paralyzed, and three invalid 
sisters. Under such circumstances he was mustered in 
for the battle of life. After plowing for a time, he 
obtained a position as clerk in a Goldsboro store, where 
he obtained his education, and by hard work and self-de¬ 
privation managed, in a few years, to meet all his father’s 
obligations, care for his family, and establish himself in 
business as a grocer. In 1870 he married Mary E. Mc¬ 
Arthur, whose assistance contributed no little to his suc¬ 
cess. Since 1878 he has been engaged in the hardware 
trade, in 1889 becoming president of the Wayne agricul¬ 
tural works, a manufacturing establishment which under 
his management has grown to large proportions. He is 
now a wealthy man and commands the respect of all who 
know him. For two years he has held the office of direc¬ 
tor of the State penitentiary, by appointment of Governor 
Carr. Mr. Smith has four children living: Margaret T., 
wife of B. H. Griffin; Sallie McArthur, William H., and 
Graves James. 

William P. Snakenberg, chief of police of Wilson, N. 
C., is a native of Louisiana, born at New Orleans, in 
1844, and rendered his Confederate service in a Louisiana 
regiment. Through his mother he is descended from a 
revolutionary soldier, whose descendants settled in Ohio, 
whence several of them enlisted in the Federal army. 
Mr. Snakenberg entered the Confederate States service 
in June, 1861, as a private of the Lafayette Rifle Cadets, 
which became Company K, of the Fourteenth Louisiana 


750 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


infantry, went to Virginia early in the war and 
served in Starke’s brigade of Stonewall Jackson’s divi¬ 
sion. Before being assigned to the Stonewall division, he 
participated in the defense of Yorktown during the 
siege, and the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, 
and subsequently took part in the engagements at 
Gaines’ Mill, Cold Harbor, Fravser’s farm, Malvern 
Hill, Cedar mountain,. Second Manassas, Chantilly, cap¬ 
ture of Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, 
Winchester, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Bristoe 
Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania 
Court House. At Sharpsburg he was shot twice, a ball 
wounding his left hand and another penetrating his body, 
and in consequence was disabled until March 2, 1863. In 
the disaster to his division at the bloody angle, May 12, 
1864, he was captured and subsequently was confined at 
Point Lookout and Elmira, N. Y., until paroled, March 
2, 1865. During a portion of his imprisonment, a cousin 
from Ohio, a Federal soldier, was among his guards. 
Since 1866 he has been a resident of North Carolina, 
engaged in the milling business, first in Edgecombe and 
later in Wilson county. He was elected to the police 
force of Wilson in 1882, was deputy sheriff of the county 
six years from 1884, and in 1897 was elected chief of 
police. In December, 1862, he was married, in Tarboro 
county, to Delphi J., daughter of George Gardner, 
and has six children: John W., Edwin F., Claude, Wil¬ 
liam, Alice Lee, wife of William Holden, and Kate. 

Bennett Smedes, director of St. Mary’s school, Raleigh, 
N. C., is a native of Schenectady county, N. Y., born in 
1837, but from the age of five years, when his parents 
removed to North Carolina, has been a resident of that 
State. He was educated at Lovejoy’s academy, at the St. 
James college in Maryland, and the General theological 
seminary of New York, where he was graduated in i860. 
From that date he served at Baltimore as assistant to 
Rev. Dr. Cox, then rector of Grace church, later elevated 
to the bishopric, until the winter of 1862, when he 
endeavored to cross the Federal lines and join the army 
of Northern Virginia, where he considered his most 
imperative duty to lie. But he was captured in this 
attempt, and was held about two months in the Old Cap¬ 
itol prison at Washington, then being released on parole 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


751 


and exchanged some months later. Making his way to 
Raleigh, he was appointed chaplain of the Fifth North 
Carolina regiment of infantry, of Rodes’ division, army 
of Northern Virginia, with which he served during the 
Gettysburg campaign and until February, 1864, when, 
being disabled by sickness, he was sent home on furlough. 
He never recovered sufficiently to rejoin his regiment 
during its service. At the close of hostilities he became 
an assistant to his father, Rev. A. Smedes, then president 
of St. Mary’s school, and in 1877, upon the death of the 
latter, took charge of the institution, a position in which 
he has since been retained. He has demonstrated great 
ability as an educator, and his two decades of work as 
head of this famous school have been productive of good 
throughout the State. 

Rufus A. Spainhour, of Wilkesboro, a veteran of the 
First regiment, North Carolina troops, was born in Burke 
county, October 5, 1839, and was educated in Wilkes 
county, where he enlisted in May, 1861, in the company or¬ 
ganized in that county, under Capt. M. S. Stokes. This 
became Company B of the First regiment, Col. M. S. 
Stokes, and reported to the adjutant-general of the Confed¬ 
erate States in Virginia in July, 1861. His brother, J. H. 
Spainhour, chaplain of the regiment, died of fever at 
Fredericksburg, October 17, 1861, and soon after the 
Seven Days’ campaign, in the following spring, another 
brother in this regiment, John C., died of brain fever. 
Rufus A. was detailed as commissary-sergeant, previous 
to the battles before Richmond between the armies under 
Lee and McClellan, but took part in that bloody cam¬ 
paign, and subsequently performed the duties of his posi¬ 
tion with faithfulness and efficiency until the close of the 
four years’ struggle, being present at every battle in 
which the army of Northern Virginia engaged. After 
he was surrendered at Appomattox, he returned to his 
father’s home in Burke county, N. C., but soon removed 
to Dellaplane in Wilkes county, where, after teaching 
school for a time, he embarked in the mercantile business 
in Dellaplane and two years later removed to Wilkesboro, 
where he is still engaged. In 1880-81 he represented his 
county in the legislature. By his marriage, in 1866, to 
Mary Anne Ginnings he has three children: Ila M., 
Bertha A., and James Edgar. 


752 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Major Thomas Sparrow, born at New Bern, October 2, 
1819, died at Washington, N. C., January 14, 1884, is 
well remembered for his devotion to the Confederate 
cause. He was graduated, in 1842, at Princeton college, 
New Jersey, as valedictorian of his class, read law at 
New Bern with Judge Gaston, was licensed to practice, 
and then took the master’s degree at his alma mater. 
In 1844 he married Annie, daughter of John Blackwell. 
He began his residence at Washington in 1847, and prac¬ 
ticed law as the partner of Edward Stanley, also serving 
in the legislature in 1858-59, until in August of the latter 
year, he removed to Areola, Ill. Upon the election of 
President Lincoln he returned to North Carolina, and in 
April, 1861, entered the Confederate service, organizing 
and taking rank as captain of the Washington Grays, 
composed of the flower of the young manhood of Beau¬ 
fort county. He was assigned to the Seventh regiment, 
but at his request, was transferred to the Second regi¬ 
ment, then in Virginia. While awaiting transportation 
he was ordered with his company to assist in the defense 
of Fort Hatteras, where he endured the terrific bombard¬ 
ment of August 28th and 29th, in which not less than 
3,000 shells were thrown at the devoted garrison, who, 
with no guns capable of making adequate reply, simply 
endured this assault until compelled to surrender. While 
a prisoner of war at Fort Columbus, New York harbor, 
and later at Fort Warren, Boston, he was distinguished 
for devotion to the comfort and welfare of his men. 
They were subjected to great privation and hardship. 
One of the orders of the guard read: “No one is to be 
allowed to write oftener than once a month, and then the 
letter must not exceed six lines. All letters are to be 
open and to undergo the usual inspection.” Neverthe¬ 
less, he declined to be exchanged and gave the oppor¬ 
tunity to another that he might remain and care for his 
men until all were liberated. After about six months of 
this life he returned and was promoted to major of the 
Tenth regiment, heavy artillery, and assigned to com¬ 
mand of the city and river defenses of Wilmington. At 
home on sick leave when the surrender occurred, he 
refused to give his parole, and taking a small boat paddled 
twenty miles that he might escape with his sword, which 
his family still cherishes. For several years afterward he 
led a laborious life as a farmer, rather than take the oath 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY . 753 

of allegiance. Finally resuming his professional career, 
he served in the State legislature in 1870 and 1880, and 
was the house manager in the celebrated impeachment 
trial of Gov. W. W. Holden, by the skillful conduct of 
which he gained great prominence. He was one of the 
founders of the Confederate veteran organizations, 
organizing the first camp in the State, May 30, 1883. 

Captain John Francis Stephens, of Pilot Mountain, N. 
C., was born at Albany, N. Y., June 23, 1834, but re¬ 
moved to North Carolina before the beginning of the war 
of the Confederacy. During the early part of the strug¬ 
gle he was living at High Point, Guilford county, and 
engaged in the work of making salt for the army, but in 
1862 reported for duty at Raleigh, and was sent to Camp 
Holmes. While there he was detailed to work in the 
iron mines of Surry county, which were under govern¬ 
ment management. He continued in this service until 
the close of hostilities, and in 1864 was elected captain 
of a company of the details, organized to be ready for 
call when needed. During the subsequent period he 
has been a prosperous farmer of Surry county, and for 
about ten years has served as magistrate. By his mar¬ 
riage, in 1864, to Lucinda Boyles, he has five children 
living: W. H., Flora E., Eunice A., Roselle J., and 
Ruby M. 

Major James M. Stevenson, one of the martyrs of the 
heroic defense of Fort Fisher, was born at New Bern, 
April 26, 1824. In early manhood he married Christiana 
E. Sanders, and made his home near Wilmington. At 
the beginning of the conflict, in 1861, he held the rank 
of first lieutenant in the artillery company of Capt. J. J. 
Hedrick, and it was he who, on April 16, 1861, demanded 
and received the surrender of Fort Johnson, near the 
mouth of Cape Fear river. He was soon afterward de¬ 
tached and ordered to Fort Caswell as ordnance officer, 
and while there accepted the captaincy of a company of 
artillery organized by R. J. Murphy, E. L. Faison and 
A. A. Moseley, of Sampson county. This company was 
attached to the Thirty-sixth regiment, and assigned to 
duty at Fort Fisher, where Captain Stevenson, with 
promotion to major, remained nearly a year. In the 
latter part of November he reinforced General Hardee, 


754 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


who was opposing Sherman’s march through Georgia. 
At the battle of Harrison’s Old Field, fourteen miles 
from Savannah, he was in command of part of his own 
and parts of the Fiftieth, Fortieth and Tenth battalions, 
and failing to receive orders to withdraw, held an 
advanced position, fighting gallantly until flanked by two 
brigades, when he brought off all his artillery, wagons 
and wounded in safety, and was warmly complimented 
by General Hardee. He returned to Fort Fisher as the 
first attack was abandoned, and fought with unfaltering 
courage during the attack of January 13th to 15th, until, 
while cheering his men and urging them to stand firm, he 
was hurled from the parapet by the explosion of a shell 
and fell bleeding in the garrison below. Carried as a 
prisoner of war to Fort Columbus, N. Y., he died there, 
March 19, 1865. He left four children: Daniel Sanders, 
James C., Ida Alene, wife of Capt. John L. Rankin, and 
Ellen Ruth, wife of Clement C. Brown. Daniel Sanders 
Stevenson, who died in 1873, was a private in the Thirty- 
sixth artillery, but had his most conspicuous career after 
being detailed as a signal-officer and assigned to duty on 
the Little Hattie, a famous blockade-runner commanded 
by Captain Lebby. It is remembered that this famous 
craft, on an October morning in 1864, being sighted by 
the Federal fleet, determined to run the blockade in day¬ 
light, and accomplished the feat successfully under fire 
of over twenty men-of-war, with eight of them in hot 
pursuit. She was partly sheltered by the fire of the 
forts, signaled for by Stevenson, standing on the paddle- 
box during the storm of shot and shell which followed 
the daring boat. On Christmas eve following, the Hattie, 
her officers being deceived by the lights of the fleet, ran 
into the Federal squadron, but they coolly kept on their 
course, young Stevenson signaling with a lantern to 
his brother at Fort Fisher to suspend the fire until they 
got in. Though passing so close to the enemy’s ships as 
to be able to touch them occasionally, they again reached 
port without harm. The last trip, from which neither 
the boat nor any of her gallant crew ever returned, 
was made just after the first siege of Fort Fisher. James 
C. Stevenson, the second son of Major Stevenson, 
born in 1848, entered the service on board the blockade- 
runner Ad Vance, at the age of fifteen years, and for 
two years was engaged in the exciting work of blockade- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


755 


running. Then feeling that he ought to enter the army, 
he enlisted in the winter of 1864 in Company A, Thirty- 
sixth regiment, heavy artillery, and was at once detailed 
to the signal corps and assigned to duty at Fort Fisher. 
He remained at his post during the memorable bombard¬ 
ments of December and January, and escaping after the 
evacuation, joined the army under Johnston and fought 
at the battle of Bentonville. There he was captured, 
and being sent to Point Lookout, Md., was held there 
four months in the prison camp. Since the war he has 
been prominent in the business affairs of Wilmington, in 
the wholesale trade since 1887. He has served three 
years upon the board of county commissioners, and is 
now president of the Wilmington wholesale grocers’ asso¬ 
ciation, vice-president of the Southern wholesale grocers’ 
association, president of the Oakdale cemetery company, 
president of the Wilmington homestead and loan associ¬ 
ation, secretary and treasurer of the New Hanover transit 
company, and a director of the Carolina Central railroad 
company. In 1876 he was married to Elizabeth J., 
daughter of Col. William L. Smith, of the Reserve corps, 
and they have four children: James Martin, Reston, 
Christina Sanders, and Almeria. 

Alvis H. Stokes, of Durham, a veteran of the Third 
North Carolina cavalry, is one of five brothers—sons of 
William Y. Stokes, of Caswell county—who were in the 
military service of the Confederate States. His brothers 
in the army were John Y. Stokes, William A. Stokes, 
who died during the war from disease contracted in serv¬ 
ice; James T. Stokes, for one year first lieutenant of the 
Twenty-first regiment, subsequently a member of the 
Third cavalry, and Charles H. Stokes, lieutenant, who 
was killed in battle near Richmond, Va. Alvis H. 
entered the service in 1863, at the age of seventeen years, 
enlisting as a private in Company C, Third North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry. He served with this command during its 
operations about Kinston and Weldon, and during 1864 
was with Barringer’s brigade in the campaigns about 
Richmond. He was identified with the gallant record 
made by his regiment during the long and desperate 
struggle through the fall and winter of 1864 and the 
spring of 1865, against the overwhelming hosts of the 
Federal armv. After the surrender of General Lee he 

Nc 71 


756 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


and his comrades made their way to Danville and there 
disbanded to seek their homes. Subsequently he entered 
Trinity college, and after completing the four years’ 
course of study received the master’s degree in 1870. For 
three years he was engaged as a teacher at the Mangum 
academy, after which he embarked in business at Dur¬ 
ham. From this he retired in 1897, after an active and 
successful career. He has various important financial 
interests, and has held the positions of director in the 
First national bank and vice-president of the Fidelity 
bank. For a number of years he rendered valuable serv¬ 
ice as chairman of the board of county commissioners. 
In 1886 Mr. Stokes was married to Mary, daughter of 
M. A. Angier, and they have two children, Lucy May 
and Thomas A. Stokes. 

Lieutenant-Colonel William Williams Stringfield, a 
prominent citizen of Waynesville, N. C., was born in Ten¬ 
nessee, May 7, 1837, of colonial American descent. The 
founder of the family was Richard Stringfield, who settled 
in Virginia. James Stringfield, a captain in the continental 
army, and his son John, a native of the vicinity of James¬ 
town, were among the pioneers of western North Caro¬ 
lina. Rev. Thomas Stringfield, son of the latter and 
father of Colonel Stringfield, was born in Kentucky, in 
1796, and was reared from twelve years of age near 
Huntsville, Ala. He was a soldier in the Indian wars 
and bore thence through life the scar of an almost fatal 
wound in the forehead; soon after reaching his seven¬ 
teenth year was an ordained minister of the Methodist 
church and a chaplain in Andrew Jackson’s army in the 
war of 1812, being a great favorite with Jackson; became 
widely noted as a pioneer preacher in east Tennessee, 
and was a member of the general conferences in which 
the church South was established; in 1836 was elected 
editor of the Southwestern Christian Advocate, the fore¬ 
runner of the present organ of the church, published at 
Nashville; and died June 12, 1858, at Strawberry Plains, 
Tenn., where he had founded the college which was 
destroyed during the war. His wife was Sarah, daughter 
of William Williams and Sarah King, both of colonial 
families, the latter being the daughter of Col. James 
King, who came to America as an officer of the line in 
the British army, and after participating in the disas- 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


757 


trous campaign of General Braddock, settled in Virginia, 
served in the revolutionary army, and afterward made 
his home at King’s Meadows, the site of the city of Bris¬ 
tol, Tenn. Colonel Stringfield was reared and educated 
at Strawberry Plains, Tenn., and in June, 1861, enlisted 
as a private in Company F, First Tennessee cavalry, with 
which he served in the campaign under General Zolli- 
coffer, from Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, taking part 
in the fights at Barbersville, Wild Cat and Rock Castle, 
and at Yellow Creek narrowly escaping death at the 
hands of eleven bushwhackers. Returning home in the 
following winter on sick leave, he organized a company, 
which became E of the Thirty-first infantry, and he was 
elected captain. Soon afterward he was appointed pro¬ 
vost-marshal for the counties of Carter, Johnson, Sullivan 
and Washington, but resigned that position September 
27, 1862, to accept the rank of major of Thomas’ legion, 
afterward the Sixty-ninth regiment, North Carolina 
troops, with which his main service was rendered. He 
served in east Tennessee and southwest Virginia, in 
numerous engagements, was with Early in the Shenan¬ 
doah valley, at the battles of Staunton, Kemstown, Win¬ 
chester, Strasburg, Berryville, etc., and in December, 
1864, was transferred with his regiment to western North 
Carolina, where he was in command, from Pigeon river 
to the boundary, and on March 6, 1865, fought his last 
battle with Colonel Kirk, on which day he was promoted 
to lieutenant-colonel. He was in thirty-seven encounters 
with the enemy, and had some narrow escapes from death 
and capture. At Staunton he had a hand-to-hand fight 
with two Federal soldiers, killing one and capturing the 
other. An incident of his career, particularly worthy of 
mention, is his saving the lives of some wounded Federal 
prisoners in hospital at Emory and Henry college, Vir¬ 
ginia, October 6, 1864, after a massacre of them had 
begun. After assuming command of western North 
Carolina, west of the Balsam mountains and extending to 
the Hiwassee, west of Murphy, he was hourly in danger 
of being murdered by outlaws, as was his comrade, Col. 
W. C. Walker, of the Second regiment, Thomas’ legion, 
a few months previous. That whole mountain region, 
along the great Smoky mountains, including the homes 
of 400 Cherokee Indians, many of whom, by bribery, 
etc., had been led to desert the South, was danger- 


758 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ously infested with these outlaws. Colonel Stringfield 
having troops in several counties, traveled often alone, 
and fearless in the discharge of duty. As a professed 
Christian, he had great belief in an overruling Provi¬ 
dence. While fearless of the foe, he also was severe 
toward the desperadoes of our own army, some of whom 
felt the force of his iron will and were compelled to 
release prisoners that they were leading out, bound, to be 
shot. All citizens were protected in person and property. 
In April, 1865, he was detained by the Federal forces at 
Knoxville, in violation of the flag of truce, which he car¬ 
ried in for the purpose of arranging terms of surrender, 
and was imprisoned until June 1, 1865. After the close of 
hostilities he removed from east Tennessee to Haywood 
county, N. C., and was mainly engaged in business at 
Asheville, etc., from 1868 to 1872, when he removed to 
Waynesville. There, in 1879, he established the Hay¬ 
wood White Sulphur Springs hotel, which was the begin¬ 
ning of the fame of Waynesville as a popular summer 
resort. This present establishment is a handsome hos¬ 
telry, magnificently situated, with accommodation for 250 
guests, and is liberally patronized. Colonel Stringfield 
is heartily enlisted in the work of preserving the ties of 
comradeship of the living Confederates, was the organ¬ 
izer and first commander of the veteran camp at Waynes¬ 
ville, and has also organized a camp among the Indian 
veterans. He is now and for years has been commander 
of the veterans of all western North Carolina. He takes 
an intelligent interest in public affairs and represented his 
county in the legislature of 1882-83. He has been thrice 
elected to the general conference, Methodist Episcopal 
church South. He has seven children by his marriage, in 
1871, to Maria M., daughter of Col. James R. Love, and 
granddaughter of Col. Robert Love, a revolutionary sol¬ 
dier and the founder of Waynesville. Mrs. Stringfield 
had three brothers who were Confederate soldiers, and 
three brothers-in-law. Their eldest son, Thomas, was 
first lieutenant, Company H, First North Carolina vol¬ 
unteers, and served in General Lee’s corps in the recent 
war with Spain. 

Alexander B. Stronach, a prominent merchant of Ral¬ 
eigh, born in that city in 1847, entered the Confederate 
service, June 1, 1864, at the age of seventeen years, as a 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


759 


private in Capt. Joseph B. Starr’s battery, Company B, 
Thirteenth battalion, North Carolina artillery. With this 
command he was connected until the close of the war, 
taking- an active part in the final operations in North 
Carolina, and fighting at Southwest creek, near Kinston, 
and in the battle of Bentonville. He was paroled at 
Raleigh in May, 1865. He has subsequently been en¬ 
gaged in a successful commercial career, is an enterpris¬ 
ing and influential citizen, and popular with his comrades 
of the North Carolina troops. 

William Strudwick, M. D., now a prominent physician 
of Hillsboro, was a staunch supporter of the Confederate 
cause during the years 1861-65, an< ^ was a participant 
in some of the stirring events of the military operations 
on the coast of North Carolina in the spring of 1862. He 
was born at Hillsboro, in 1830, son of Dr. Edmund 
Strudwick, a prominent physician, who was the first 
president of the State medical society, and was tendered 
the position of first superintendent of the State insane 
hospital at Raleigh. The latter was the son of Maj. 
William Strudwick, member of Congress, whose grand¬ 
father, Samuel Strudwick, came to America during the 
colonial administration of Governor Burlington, receiv¬ 
ing a large grant of land in payment of a debt of ^30,000, 
owed him by that functionary. The wife of Dr. Edmund 
Strudwick was Anne, daughter of Frederick Nash, jus¬ 
tice of the supreme court of North Carolina. William 
Strudwick was educated at Bingham’s academy and the 
university of North Carolina, and after his graduation at 
the latter institution, received the degree of doctor of 
medicine from the Jefferson medical college, at Phila¬ 
delphia, in 1853. In 1852 he wedded Caroline Watters, 
of Cape Fear, and he made his home at Hillsboro, where 
he had a successful professional career until the crisis of 
1860-61. He entered the military service as a member of 
the Orange Guards, and being ordered to Fort Macon, 
was commissioned surgeon of his regiment, with the 
rank of major. The garrison of Fort Macon, under com¬ 
mand of Col. Moses J. White, made a gallant resistance 
to the Federal land and naval forces which surrounded 
them, in the latter part of April, 1862, and only surren¬ 
dered after a ten hours’ bombardment, when the Confed¬ 
erates marched out with honorable terms and gave their 


760 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


parole. Surgeon Strudwick was on duty during this 
affair, in the fort, and subsequently was for a consider¬ 
able time on parole. When exchanged he returned to 
active duty, and was ordered to take charge, as chief 
surgeon, of the yellow fever hospital at Smithville, N. C. 
Since that time he has continued in the practice of 
his profession with notable success. He has six children 
living: Edmund, of Richmond, Va.; Anne Nash, Julia, 
wife of William B. Meares; Sheperd, of Richmond; 
Mary, wife of T. M. Arrasmith, and Margaret. 

John W. Sutphin left his home in Halifax county, in 
June, 1864, to accompany, as surgeon, a strong volun¬ 
teer force that hastened to the defense of Roanoke 
bridge, threatened by the advance of Crook’s raiders. 
Forgetting all danger in his solicitude for others, Dr. 
Sutphin exposed himself to the deadly fire of the enemy’s 
artillery, and a fragment of shell struck him, inflicting a 
mortal wound. He died June 21, 1864, and lies buried 
on the old farm, his former home, near the foot of High 
hill. In the medical fraternity, of Virginia, Dr. Sut- 
phin’s position was one of prominence and weight. He 
loved his profession and was eminently successful, pos¬ 
sessing as he did, skill and originality, combined with a 
personal magnetism almost invariably found in men of 
decided ability. Loved and admired by family and 
friends, a fine musician and man of letters, he was totally 
devoid of arrogance and vanity, and enjoyed his own 
fireside, surrounded by his books and scientific apparatus. 
His father, James Sutphin, was a wealthy farmer of Am¬ 
herst county, and the family line can be traced back to 
a scion of Dutch nobility, Nicholas Von Sutphin, who 
landed in Philadelphia in 1615. Dr. Sutphin married 
Martha Anne, second daughter of Dr. James Singleton, 
of Gloucester county, Va., a very high-bred woman, 
proud of revolutionary ancestors on her father’s side and 
royal lineage on the maternal, the Ragland side of her 
house. The eldest daughter of the family, Mary Wat¬ 
kins, is now the wife of E. G. Davis, a leading merchant 
of Henderson, N. C. A typical Southern woman in 
manner and temperament, she has clung tenaciously to 
the traditions of the past, and is secretary of the Vance 
county chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy. 
Capt. James S. Sutphin, son of Dr. Sutphin, who went 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


761 


into the Confederate service from Halifax county, Va., 
enlisted as a private in the company commanded by 
Capt. D. A. Claibourne. The company was mustered in 
at Richmond, Va., as Company K of the Fourteenth 
Virginia regiment, Col. James Gregory Hodges. He was 
on duty at Jamestown island, remaining on the peninsula 
until the following spring; heard the first bullet whistle 
at Hampton, and was in hearing of the battle of Bethel. 
He was in command of the picket line on the Dismal 
Swamp, near Suffolk, on the night after the ironclad 
Virginia was blown up, and shared his rations next morn¬ 
ing with Capt. Catesby Ap R. Jones and his crew of toil- 
worn sailors. He continued on duty in the same com¬ 
pany, with promotion to the rank of captain, until after 
the battle of Gettysburg, in the meantime having gone 
through nearly all the battles of the army of Northern 
Virginia. After Gettysburg, he was retired on account 
of wounds, but about a year later was assigned to post 
duty at the parole and exchange camp at Richmond, 
where he remained till the Stars and Stripes were run 
up on the flagstaff at the capitol. Then, under his 
charge, the archives of the government were packed in 
six knapsacks and strapped on the backs of his office 
force, and they made their way, after many narrow 
escapes, to Greensboro, N. C. At that place, General 
Brantly, commandant of the post, assigned him to the 
duty of giving out two days’ rations to every returning 
Confederate soldier. This service terminated his mili¬ 
tary career. 

Harvey S. Suttlemyre, a merchant of Hickory, N. C., 
was identified during the Confederate war with the 
record of the Thirty-fifth regiment, North Carolina 
troops. He was born in Burke county, in 1832, a son of 
Jacob Suttlemyre, who was a soldier of the war of 1812. 
Mr. Suttlemyre was educated in his native county, and 
there was engaged in agriculture until he answered the 
call of his State, in the spring of 1862. Becoming a pri¬ 
vate in Company K, Thirty-fifth regiment, he shared the 
service of this command in North Carolina, where, as a 
part of Ransom’s brigade, it was engaged in numerous 
skirmishes and constant movements along the line of the 
Weldon railroad, checking the advance of the enemy from 
the coast and vigilantly guarding the territory of the 


762 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


State. In the spring of 1864, he fought under Beaure¬ 
gard at Drewry’s bluff and Bermuda Hundred, and, in 
June of that year, participated in the desperate fighting 
before Petersburg, where his regiment, after losing its 
colors and regaining them a half dozen times, finally cap¬ 
tured the Michigan regiment against which it had strug¬ 
gled. In this encounter he was wounded and captured, 
and after lying in hospital at Fortress Monroe for six or 
eight weeks, was transferred to Point Lookout, where he 
was held until August, 1864. In the spring of 1865, hav¬ 
ing recovered from the long illness which followed his 
imprisonment, he joined his comrades in the Petersburg 
trenches, and was on duty till the battle of Five Forks, 
when he was again captured. This ended his military 
experience, and when he was paroled in June, 1865, the 
Confederacy had ceased to be. Returning to his North 
Carolina home, he resumed agricultural pursuits, and ten 
years later made his home at Hickory, where he has met 
with marked success as a retail merchant. 

John G. Tatham, a prominent citizen of Murphy, N. 

C. , who devoted four years of his youth to the military 
service of the Confederate States, coming out a veteran 
at the age of twenty years, was born near Valley Town, 
Cherokee county. Though but sixteen years of age, dur¬ 
ing the exciting days of military organization, in 1861, he 
succeeded in becoming enrolled as a private of Company 

D, Twenty-fifth regiment, North Carolina troops, Col. 
Henry M. Rutledge. He was mustered in at Asheville, 
with his brother as captain of the company, and, during 
1861, was on duty at the mouth of the Cape Fear river, 
at Charleston, S. C., and near Savannah, where his regi¬ 
ment went into winter quarters. In the spring of 1862 
the regiment formed a part of Gen. Robert Ransom’s 
brigade, and won distinction in the bloody struggle be¬ 
tween the armies of Lee and McClellan, which ended in 
complete triumph for the Confederate arms. Private 
Tatham fought through this campaign and shared the 
subsequent service of his regiment on many famous fields, 
including the battles of Fredericksburg, Drewry’s Bluff, 
Petersburg, etc. During the winter of 1864, he was at 
home on furlough from the army of Northern Virginia, 
and on attempting to return, found himself cut off by 
the Federal forces, whereupon he joined the cavalry com- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


763 


mand of Gen. John C. Vaughn, with which he served 
until the end. He was with the troops who escorted 
President Davis on his journey westward from Richmond, 
after the evacuation, and, in the capacity of a messenger, 
was admitted to the last council held by the President 
and his cabinet. Since the close of hostilities, Mr. Tat- 
ham has been engaged in farming and has also had a dis¬ 
tinguished career as a public official of his county. At 
the organization of Graham county, he was elected 
county clerk and for eighteen years was retained in that 
office by the popular vote. He served one term in the 
legislature by election in 1892, and for four years held 
the office of deputy collector of internal revenue. In 
1893 he was married to Mary McCoombs, daughter of a 
pioneer farmer of Cherokee county. Mr. Tatham is the 
son of Thomas and Mary (Phillips) Tatham, both natives 
of North Carolina, the father a veteran of the Mexican 
war. Of their eleven children, six served in the Confed¬ 
erate ranks. Capt. L. B., the eldest, assisted in organ¬ 
izing Company D, Twenty-fifth regiment, was mustered 
in as second lieutenant, was promoted first lieutenant at 
the reorganization, and soon afterward made captain. 
He participated in the Seven Days’ battles, Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg, Drewry’s Bluff, and many other engage¬ 
ments, and served nine months in the trenches at Peters¬ 
burg, until captured March 25, 1865, in Gordon’s attack 
on Fort Steadman, after which he was imprisoned at 
Fort Delaware until the close of hostilities. The other 
brothers were Julius M. and Jasper N., in Company D, 
who both died from exposure in the service; William C., a 
lieutenant in Thomas’ legion, and Pinckney B., of another 
command, both of whom served to the end of the war. 

David T. Tayloe, M. D., surgeon of the Sixty-first 
regiment, North Carolina troops, was born at Wash¬ 
ington, N. C., February 21, 1826. He was graduated 
with distinction by the university of North Carolina, in 
1846, and then entering upon the study of medicine with 
Dr. John Norcum as his preceptor, was graduated in that 
profession at the medical department of the university of 
New York in 1849. He embarked in professional work 
in Halifax county, and when an opportunity offered, 
removed to his native city and entered upon a career of 
great usefulness. In addition to his professional labors, 


764 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


he filled in the course of his life, various positions of 
trust, in which he gained the approbation of his fellow- 
citizens. When his State went through the fiery trial of 
war, he volunteered his services for military duty and 
was commissioned surgeon of the Sixty-first regiment, a 
post in which his devoted patriotism and high profes¬ 
sional skill were alike displayed throughout the war. He 
was a man of broad culture, an accomplished scholar in 
the classics, and fond of poetry, philosophy and history. 
Generosity, courage and tenderness were marked traits 
of his character. He was a devoted Southerner and a 
loyal North Carolinian. He died March 25, 1884, deeply 
mourned by all who had enjoyed his acquaintance or had 
been honored by his friendship. 

Charles C. Taylor, now a prominent citizen of Durham, 
in his youth was connected with the service of the Con¬ 
federate States, and still retains a warm feeling of com¬ 
radeship toward the surviving veterans and reverence for 
the cause for which they fought. He was born in Cum¬ 
berland county, January 25, 1847, an ^ is the son of Wil¬ 
liam Taylor, a native of England, who was brought to 
New York in his infancy by his parents, and removing 
to North Carolina about 1830, became one of the leading 
business men of Fayetteville. Young Taylor enlisted in 
Company B of the Second regiment, Junior reserves, 
under command of Col. John H. Anderson, and after 
being detailed for some time as secretary for the colonel, 
served from the beginning of 1865 until the close of hos¬ 
tilities as hospital steward. In this capacity he was in 
charge of the sick in hospital at Raleigh. Subsequently 
Mr. Taylor served as secretary of the Freedman’s bureau 
at Fayetteville, and after the suspension of that institu¬ 
tion, engaged in the mercantile business. In 1879 he 
made his home at Durham, where he is now an influen¬ 
tial citizen. He has served as city alderman several 
terms, officiating as chairman of the finance committee 
and as mayor pro tern. He is vice-president of the More- 
head banking company. In the various departments of free 
masonry he has attained considerable prominence, and in 
1886, was elected grand scribe of the grand chapter of 
the State. In 1872 he was married to Eliza, daughter of 
Capt. Henry Richards, of Hillsboro. Four children are 
living, Elizabeth, Josephine, Catherine and Charles C. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 765 

James P. Taylor, a retired merchant of Charlotte, did 
good service for the Confederate States as a member of 
the Forty-ninth regiment, North Carolina troops. He 
was born in Mecklenburg county, January i, 1845, the 
son of Wilson M. and Mary (Shepperd) Taylor. He en¬ 
listed in the latter part of 1862, before he had reached 
the age of eighteen years, as a private in Company F of 
the Forty-ninth regiment, Ransom’s brigade. Accom¬ 
panying his regiment to southeastern Virginia, in the 
spring of 1864, he was subsequently identified with the 
army of Northern Virginia during the defense of Peters¬ 
burg, participated in the battles at Drewry’s bluff, Ber¬ 
muda Hundred, Chickahominy swamp, Petersburg, Wel¬ 
don railroad, Reams’ Station, Belfield, Wilcox’s farm, the 
Crater, and in fact all the operations about Petersburg 
in which his regiment took part. He was wounded in 
the breast by a fragment of shell, December 19, 1864, 
and was disabled in consequence five weeks, and in his 
last battle, Five Forks, April 1, 1865, was taken prisoner. 
Subsequently he experienced the privations of prison life 
at Point Lookout, until June 28, 1865. After the close 
of hostilities, he was for twenty-four years engaged in the 
railroad service in North Carolina, and then in the gro¬ 
cery business, in which he met with much success. He 
is a member of Mecklenburg camp, Confederate vet¬ 
erans, and highly regarded by his comrades. He was 
married, in 1877, to Mrs. Mary E. Almond, nee Starrett, 
of South Carolina, who died February 1, 1898. 

Colonel John Douglas Taylor, of the Thirty-sixth 
North Carolina artillery, was born at Wilmington, in 
1831, and in 1853 was graduated at the university of 
North Carolina. He then engaged in rice planting in 
Brunswick county, and being elected to the State senate, 
in 1859, served in that body until January, 1862, when he 
entered the Confederate service as captain of the Bruns¬ 
wick heavy artillery. He was stationed with his com¬ 
mand at Fort Caswell, and upon the organization of the 
Thirty-sixth artillery in the latter part of 1862, he was 
elected major. In 1863 he was promoted lieutenant- 
colonel, the rank in which he served until the close of 
hostilities. Being placed in command at Fort Campbell, 
in the early part of 1864, he held that post until the fall 
of Fort Fisher compelled its abandonment, after which 


766 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


he was attached to the brigade of General Hagood. 
Among the engagements in which he participated were 
Fort Anderson, Town Creek, Kinston and Bentonville, 
in the last of which he was severely wounded, losing his 
left arm. In 1877 he was appointed clerk of the superior 
court at Wilmington, to fill an unexpired term, and since 
then has resided there. He has served several terms as 
clerk and treasurer of the city, and in 1890 was elected 
to the office of clerk of the superior court. 

Lieutenant James A. Tennent, of Asheville, a veteran 
of the engineer service of the army of the Confederate 
States, was born at Charleston, S. C., in 1842, the third 
son of William M. and Eliza (Hopkins) Tennent, both 
natives of that State. The founder of his family in 
America was the Rev. William Tennent, who emigrated 
from Ireland in 1716, and, making his home at Nesh- 
aminy, Pa., established there the “Log college,” the 
first theological school of America, which, being trans¬ 
ferred to Princeton, N. J., by his removal there, became 
the foundation of the Princeton theological seminary. 
He died in 1746, at the age of seventy years. Llis son, 
William, also a Presbyterian minister, removed to South 
Carolina, and became very prominent during the revolu¬ 
tionary period, as a member of the State assembly and 
as commissioner to bring the Tories to terms of peace. 
Mr. Tennent is also descended, through a maternal 
branch, from the Landgrave Thomas Smith, a native of 
England, who was governor and commander-in-chief of 
the colony of South Carolina in 1693. At the time of the 
secession of South Carolina, young Tennent was a stu¬ 
dent in the State military academy, and in January, 
1861, with the corps of cadets, was put on duty in Charles¬ 
ton harbor, constructing and manning the battery, after¬ 
ward famous as Battery Wagner. Here he served as 
number two on gun number one, and assisted in firing 
the first shot upon the national flag, preventing the Star 
of the West from bringing supplies to Fort Sumter. 
He also took part in the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
and immediately thereafter, being graduated at the mili¬ 
tary academy, he was commissioned first lieutenant of 
the Calhoun Guards, of the Seventeenth regiment, South 
Carolina troops. Two months later he was detached as 
military instructor and assistant engineer at Port Royal. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


767 


He was on duty at Fort Walker, Hilton Head, during the 
attack by Admiral Dupont, and after the evacuation of 
that post, rejoined his company and served on James 
island until the spring of 1862, when he was again de¬ 
tached as assistant engineer in the Second military dis¬ 
trict. In June, as adjutant of his regiment, Twenty-third 
South Carolina volunteers, he accompanied it to Virginia, 
where he participated in the battle of Malvern Hill, and 
the Second Manassas campaign, after which he was for a 
time disabled by illness. Returning southward with 
Evans’ brigade, he took part in the Goldsboro campaign 
against Foster, after which he was detached on engineer¬ 
ing duty on the South Carolina coast. His only absence 
from active duty was five months, from June, 1863, as 
military instructor and assistant professor of mathemat¬ 
ics at the Hillsboro, N. C., military academy. He was 
afterward assigned to the Second and then to the First mil¬ 
itary district, South Carolina, and when on Sullivan’s 
island, in July, 1864, became engineer in charge, this 
appointment bringing under his supervision all the de¬ 
fenses in Charleston harbor east of Fort Sumter, and 
thence northward on the coast to North Carolina. On 
January 15, 1865, he was sent with his entire force to 
secretly prepare the way for the retreat of General Har¬ 
dee’s army from Charleston, a duty which was faithfully 
performed. He subsequently served as staff officer with 
Col. John Clark, the chief engineer of the army of the 
South, as it was then called, and was present at General 
Hampton’s surprise of Kilpatrick, near Fayetteville, and 
the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville. At the time 
when General Johnston surrendered he was executing an 
order to re-establish communications in South Carolina 
and remove a large quantity of military stores which had 
escaped the Federal army. Since that period, Mr. Ten- 
nent has devoted his talents to engineering and archi¬ 
tecture, at Charleston until 1872, and since then at Ashe¬ 
ville, where many of the handsomest buildings are of his 
creation. By his marriage, in 1869, to Lizzie West, of 
New Orleans, he has one son, George. 

Major James J. Thomas, prominent among the business 
men of Raleigh, was born in Franklin county, July 19, 
1831, son of James J. Thomas, a native of Alabama. At 
the age of nineteen years he decided to embark in mer- 


768 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


cantile pursuits, and after serving in a subordinate 
capacity for a few years, opened a store at Franklinton. 
In 1861 he abandoned a successful business to offer his 
services to the State, and became a member of Company 
F, Forty-seventh regiment, and was commissioned first 
lieutenant of his company by Governor Clark. Later in 
the same year he was appointed quartermaster of the 
regiment commanded by Col. Sion H. Rogers. When 
this rank was abolished by Congress, he was, on the 
recommendation of Gen. R. E. Lee, appointed assistant 
division quartermaster, and assigned to the division of 
Gen. Harry Heth, A. P. Hill’s corps, army of Northern 
Virginia. In this position he discharged, for much of the 
time, the duties of division quartermaster, and was acting 
in that capacity when the army was surrendered at Appo¬ 
mattox Court House. On the 30th of June, 1863, the 
army being in Pennsylvania, Major Thomas proceeded 
toward Gettysburg with all the available wagons of his 
division, intending to collect supplies in that direction, 
with a detail of infantry and cavalry as a guard, and dis¬ 
covered the enemy in position on a distant hill. Halting 
and retiring to a safer place for the train, he camped that 
night, while the Confederate forces were marching past 
him to open the great struggle with the bloody victory 
of July 1st. After the first day’s battle, he went 
over the field and gathered up everything of military 
value, and partially repeated that duty on the night of 
the 2d. During the retreat he was captured at Green- 
castle, Pa., but soon rescued by General Imboden’s com¬ 
mand. He was at the battle of Drewry’s Bluff, the fights 
about Richmond, and many minor engagements. After 
the close of hostilities, he, with other citizens of Raleigh, 
conducted a cotton and commission business at Balti¬ 
more, until 1872, and afterward he was member of a firm 
at Raleigh. Since 1876 he has conducted an extensive 
business independently, rendered valuable public services 
as first president of the cotton and grocery exchange, was 
the first president of the Raleigh savings bank, presi¬ 
dent of the Oak City mills, is president of the Raleigh 
cotton mills, and has prominent interests in other impor¬ 
tant enterprises. He has also served as president of the 
Commercial and Farmers’ bank, of Raleigh, since its 
organization, in 1891. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 


769 


Lieutenant Pleasant Campbell Thomas, a prominent 
citizen of Davidson county, of which he is a native, was 
born May 12, 1838. Pie entered the Confederate service, 
April 23, 1861, as second lieutenant of the Thomasville 
Rifles, a volunteer organization which was mustered in 
as Company B of the Fourteenth regiment, North Caro¬ 
lina volunteers, one of the ten regiments first enlisted 
for twelve months’ service. Soon afterward he was pro¬ 
moted first lieutenant. Under Col. Junius Daniel the 
regiment served in the Norfolk, Va., district, until the 
spring of 1862, and while there Lieutenant Thomas 
witnessed the memorable duel of the Virginia and the 
Monitor. His health gave way before the inauguration 
of active warfare before Richmond, and he found it nec¬ 
essary to resign and send a substitute. Subsequently, 
during the continuance of the Confederate government, 
he served as a bookkeeper connected with the military 
department of North Carolina. Upon the close of hos¬ 
tilities he embarked in business with his father, the hon¬ 
ored founder of Thomasville, in which he has continued 
since his father’s death, with the exception of his public 
services. He has been prominent in the political affairs of 
his county and district, has served in the lower house of the 
legislature and in the senate, and was a candidate for 
Congress in 1891. 

Colonel William Holland Thomas was born in Haywood 
county, on Pigeon river (where Bird Evans now lives, 
one mile below Sonoma), on the 5th of February, 1805. 
He was a son of Richard Thomas, who came to North 
Carolina about 1803 from Virginia. His mother was 
Temperance Calvert, lineally descended from a brother 
of Lord Baltimore. His paternal grandmother was a 
Strother, of Virginia, and a sister of President Zachary 
Taylor’s mother. His relationship to President Taylor 
was traced by them, and during Ta)dor’s short term 
as president, Colonel Thomas always had the entree to 
the mansion and was a welcome guest. His father came 
to North Carolina with John and George Strother, his 
first cousins. Richard Thomas was drowned in a stream 
in northern Georgia, where he had gone on business, 
some months before his only child, the subject of this 
sketch, was born. Mrs. Temperance Thomas was a 
woman of strong native intellect, wonderful energy, and 


770 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


was inspired by the sole object in life of advancing her 
boy. Col. William H. Thomas started in life, when he 
was fifteen years old, as a clerk in a store at Quallatown, 
Jackson county, for the celebrated Congressman Felix 
Walker, who was the author of the expression “talking 
for Buncombe.” Felix Walker’s principal store was 
located at Waynesville, and young Thomas went to the 
branch store, with Walker’s brother, agreeing to work 
three years for $100 and board and clothing, but the 
profits of the Quallatown store were applied to meet the 
losses of that at Waynesville, and the young clerk, at the 
end of his term of service, was compelled to accept 
Walker’s law books, now in the possession of his son, in 
place of the $100. Meantime, young Thomas had devel¬ 
oped marked aptitude for business, and his mother 
agreed to sell a tract of land owned by her to furnish 
capital to start him in business as a merchant. Within 
about ten years he was running three stores in Cherokee 
county, at Scott’s Creek, Qualla town and Fort Butler 
(where Murphy is now located). In 1837 he had opened 
two others, one at Fort Montgomery (now Ruffinsville), 
and the other at Calhoun (now Charleston), Tenn. In 
his boyhood he became a great favorite of Yonaguska 
(Drowning Bear), who was the head chief of the Upper- 
town Indians. Yonaguska had the Cherokees to adopt 
Thomas into the tribe, by a decree of the council. From 
that time he was the adviser in all of the business of the 
tribe, and was soon declared to be their head chief. 
Before the end of General Jackson’s second term, in the 
year 1836, Colonel Thomas went to Washington to estab¬ 
lish the claim to a fund due them from the government, of 
those Cherokees who wished to remain in North Caro¬ 
lina, and to get the consent of the government that they 
should remain without surrendering their claim to the 
fund. Colonel Thomas presented to President Jackson 
a letter of introduction from Col. Robert Love, of Hay¬ 
wood county, an old revolutionary hero, who had been 
Jackson’s friend, when he first migrated to east Tennes¬ 
see, and who had won Old Hickory’s favor by giving him 
every vote in Haywood county, as a candidate for the 
presidency. Thomas never failed, during the remainder 
of Jackson’s term, to get a respectful hearing upon the 
business which took him to the capitol. So deeply did 
Colonel Thomas become interested in the cause of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


771 


Indians, that he spent much of his time in Washington 
between 1836 and 1840, and all of the time from 1841 till 
1848. But, notwithstanding his absence, such was his 
executive capacity that he conducted, through agents, 
a large and lucrative business in North Carolina and con¬ 
tinued to increase his wealth. On his return to the 
State, in 1848, Colonel Thomas became a candidate for 
the State senate, and was elected every two years there¬ 
after until 1862. Meantime he served as a delegate from 
Jackson county to the secession convention of 1861, being 
elected while discharging his legislative duties in Raleigh. 
In 1862 Colonel Thomas was authorized by President 
Davis to raise a legion for service in the Confederate 
army. He recruited under this authority, and had mus¬ 
tered into service fourteen companies of white infantry 
and four companies of infantry composed of Cherokees. 
He raised also four companies of cavalry, one company 
of engineers and one of artillery. When east Tennessee 
was evacuated, in the winter of 1863, most of the white 
companies of infantry went under Lieut.-Col. James R. 
Love, Lieutenant-Colonel McKamy and Major String- 
field, to western Virginia and fought under Breckinridge 
in 1864. Colonel Thomas, with the residue of his com¬ 
mand, crossed over into North Carolina and protected all 
of the State border south of Madison county. No man 
in the State showed his devotion to the cause by either 
sacrifice of time or money, or the risk of his life, more 
cheerfully than did Colonel Thomas. During his long 
term of service in the legislature, Colonel Thomas had 
procured donations of Cherokee lands to build turnpike 
roads, which permeated every section of the State south 
of the Pigeon river, and which were a monument to 
his memory. But his greatest service as a legislator was 
in forcing the adoption of the amendment to the charter 
of the western North Carolina railroad company, requir¬ 
ing the building of the Ducktown, afterward the Murphy 
branch. In 1858 Colonel Thomas was happily married 
to Sarah J. Love, the eldest daughter of Col. James R. 
Love, a leading citizen of Haywood county, and a grand¬ 
daughter of Col. Robert Love. His ardent devotion to 
the cause of the Confederacy induced him to accept serv¬ 
ice, which at his time of life was too arduous, and his 
health gave way under the great strain upon mind and 
body. He was one of the most remarkable men the 

Nc 72 


772 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


State has produced. Few men have done more, either 
for their State or for their fellow men, than did Colonel 
Thomas. His home was at Stekoah, the location of the 
Indian town destroyed by General Rutherford, on the 
banks of the Tuckaseegee. Mrs. Thomas died before her 
husband, but he left surviving him two sons, William H. 
Thomas, Jr., and James R. Thomas, and a daughter, 
Sallie Love, who is the wife of Judge Alphonso C. 
Avery, of Burke county. 

Captain John Houston Thorp, of Nash county, one of the 
survivors of the old First North Carolina, and one of the 
detail in which Private Wyatt was killed during the bat¬ 
tle of Big Bethel, was born in Nash county in 1840. He 
was educated at Chapel Hill, with graduation in i860. 
In May, 1861, he became a private in the ranks of Com¬ 
pany A of the First regiment, and soon accompanied the 
command to the peninsula of Virginia. Just after the 
battle of Big Bethel he was promoted corporal for gal¬ 
lantry in action, and in that rank he continued until the 
regiment was disbanded, six months after its enlistment. 
Then returning to his native county, he assisted in rais¬ 
ing Company A of the Forty-seventh regiment, of which 
he was commissioned first lieutenant, and in the spring 
of 1862, promoted captain. Subsequently he com¬ 
manded his company until it was paroled at Appomattox. 
With the gallant Forty-seventh, in the brigade of General 
Pettigrew, he was in battle near Washington, N. C., in 
the winter of 1862; participated in the famous assaults 
upon Seminary hill and Cemetery hill, on the first and 
third days of the battle of Gettysburg; during the retreat 
from Pennsylvania was in the affairs at Funktown and 
Falling Waters, took an active part in the Bristoe cam¬ 
paign, and in May, 1864, fought through the Wilderness 
and Spottsylvania battles. After serving in the trenches 
around Petersburg during the winter of 1864 and the 
spring of 1865, he took part in all the engagements of the 
last retreat and the fighting at Appomattox. Toward 
the last, Captain Thorp had command of the regimental 
sharpshooters and then of the brigade sharpshooters. 
On returning to North Carolina, he began the study of 
law, and being licensed to practice in 1866, was engaged 
in professional duties at Rocky Mount until 1877, when 
he turned his attention to agriculture. In 1887 he was 
elected to the State senate from the Seventh district. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


773 


Richard A. Torrance, of Charlotte, was born in Meck¬ 
lenburg county, December 7, 1833, son of James G. and 
Margaret (Allison) Torrance, of Scotch and Irish descent, 
his grandfather, Hugh Torrance, being the first of his 
line in North Carolina. He was graduated at Chapel 
Hill in 1855 ; in 1856 married Elizabeth Reid, and .in the 
following year moved to Texas, where he engaged in 
farming. He prospered in his new home and was elected 
a county commissioner, but in 1861 his wife died, and 
the war breaking out, he enlisted in Company H of the 
Eighth Texas cavalry. He first joined this command on 
the battlefield of Shiloh, and continued in service as a 
private, taking part in the battles of Murfreesboro, 
Chickamauga and Knoxville and many other cavalry 
affairs, and was slightly wounded at Murfreesboro. On 
December 26, 1863, during the campaign in east Tennes¬ 
see under Gen. Tom Harrison, his left leg was shot off, 
and this desperate wound ended his military career. He 
was sent to his old home in North Carolina, whence, in 
December, 1864, he returned to Texas and remained 
there until 1869, meanwhile, in 1865, being united in 
marriage to Eliza Gaston, of South Carolina. From 1869 
to 1871 he resided in the latter State, since then in Meck¬ 
lenburg county, where he is busied with the care of the 
paternal estate which has descended to him. He has 
served as county commissioner and six years as county 
tax collector. He is also interested in manufacturing 
enterprises, and is a valued member of Mecklenburg 
camp, U. C. V. Mr. Torrance has five sons and six 
daughters living. 

Charles William Trice, of Lexington, N. C., was born 
in Orange county, N. C., June 2, 1843, and thence 
removed with his father to Texas, in 1857. While in 
that State he entered the Confederate service in 
August, 1861, as a private in the Seventh Texas infantry, 
and accompanied this regiment to Port Hudson, Miss. 
The command was ordered thence to Fort Donelson, but 
he was unable to accompany it on account of illness, and 
thus escaped the surrender of that fort and the imprison¬ 
ment which the regiment suffered at Chicago. After the 
Seventh was paroled and again in the field, he rejoined 
it at Port Hudson, and participated in the battle of Ray¬ 
mond against Grant, in the spring of 1863; was in the 


774 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


skirmishes about Jackson, and marched with General 
Johnston’s forces to the rear of Grant’s army just before 
the surrender of Pemberton. Then falling back to Jack- 
son, he fought in the defense of that city, and later in 
the year participated in the great Confederate victory at 
Chickamauga. In the battle of Missionary Ridge his 
division was distinguished for steadiness. During the 
Atlanta campaign, he was in the fights at Golgotha 
church and New Hope church, and at Kenesaw mountain 
lost his left hand. This severe wound disabled him for 
further service, and he soon afterward went to Durham, 
N. C. After the close of hostilities he entered the rail¬ 
road service, and is now agent of the Southern road at 
Lexington. 

Samuel Graeme Turnbull was a member of the Tow- 
son Guards, of Baltimore county, Md., and with the 
rank and file of the same company, crossed the lines at 
the beginning of the war and joined Stuart’s Twelfth 
Virginia cavalry, in which he served as second lieutenant 
until the spring of 1862, when he died of diphtheria, 
near Harrisonburg, Va. After his death, his mother, like 
so many noble women in Baltimore, devoted her life and 
means to furnishing supplies and comforts to the Confed¬ 
erate soldiers confined in the prisons of the North. Rev. 
Lennox B. Turnbull, son of H. C. and Anna T. Turn- 
bull, and brother of the foregoing, was born in Baltimore 
county, Md., in 1850. His mother was a daughter of 
Samuel F. Smith, president of the Philadelphia bank, a 
descendant of Sir William Keith, colonial governor of 
Pennsylvania. Dr. Turnbull was educated at Hampden- 
Sidney college, the university of Virginia and the Union 
theological seminary of Virginia, from which he gradu¬ 
ated in 1873. After a residence in Santa Barbara, Cal., 
he was ordained by the Chesapeake presbytery, and 
became pastor of several churches in Loudoun county, Va. 
In 1889 he took charge of the Old Market mission, now 
the Hoge Memorial church, and thence in 1894 was called 
to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian church at Dur¬ 
ham, which he still serves. In 1896 the degree of doctor 
of divinity was conferred upon him by Davidson college. 
He took a prominent part in founding the first free 
public library in North Carolina, and in the removal of 
Union theological seminary to Richmond, and is a trustee 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


775 


of both institutions. In 1874 he was married to a 
daughter of Judge Ryerson, of the court of appeals, in 
Newton, N. J., who, with five children, is still living. 

Lieutenant Veines Edmunds Turner, of Raleigh, was 
born in Franklin county, N. C., in 1837, was reared in 
Henderson county, and there entered upon the practice 
of the dental profession, after his graduation at the Balti¬ 
more dental college in 1858. He enlisted in June, 1861, 
in Company G of the Thirteenth North Carolina infantry 
regiment, afterward known as the Twenty-third regiment, 
in which he served as second lieutenant of his company 
until May, 1862, and then as adjutant of the regiment 
until early in 1863, when he was appointed quartermaster. 
When the rank which he held was abolished, in the early 
part of 1864, he was assigned as acting staff quartermas¬ 
ter with General Ramseur, afterward with General 
Pegram, and finally with General Walker, with whom he 
was surrendered at Appomattox. He was under fire at 
York town, Va., about a month, and participated in the 
battles of Williamsburg, Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, 
South Mountain, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg while 
lieutenant of his company, and subsequently was present 
in the battles of Farmville and Appomattox. At Cold 
Harbor he received a wound which disabled him for 
several weeks. After the close of hostilities he practiced 
his profession at Henderson until 1871, and since then at 
Raleigh. 

James A. Turrentine, a prominent citizen and ex¬ 
mayor of Burlington, is one of the survivors of Gen. 
J. R. Chambliss’ gallant old regiment, the Thirteenth 
Virginia cavalry. He was born at Burlington in 1835, 
son of John S. Turrentine, a planter of Alamance county. 
His mother was Elizabeth B., daughter of Jeremiah Holt 
and a relative of Gov. Thomas M. Holt. At the begin¬ 
ning of the Confederate war, young Turrentine was in 
Virginia, and there became a member of the cavalry 
regiment with which he had his military career. He 
enlisted in June, 1861, in Company I of this command, 
and in the early part of the war, served about Richmond 
and in the Blackwater region. Then joining Stuart’s 
cavalry corps he shared the famous operations of those 
brave troopers, during the Fredericksburg and Chancel- 


776 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


lorsville campaigns, at Brandy Station, the raid through 
Pennsylvania and the cavalry fight at Gettysburg, the 
campaign from the Rapidan to the James, ending with 
the long and arduous service on the flank of Lee’s army 
at Petersburg, including the battles of Hatcher’s Run 
and Five Forks. At the time of the last retreat and sur¬ 
render he was separated from his regiment on foraging 
duty. He was wounded at the battle of Second Manassas, 
from the effects of which he still suffers. In May, 1865, 
Mr. Turrentine was appointed a passenger conductor on 
the railroad line between Goldsboro and Charlotte, a 
position which he held for thirty years. He was a mem¬ 
ber of the legislature of 1880-81, was five years chairman 
of the board of county commissioners, and ten years 
mayor of his city. He was married, in 1859, to Louise 
Anna Kilby, and their children living are: Vir- 
ginius Lee, Darius Hill, Elizabeth, wife of James Mont¬ 
gomery ; Hattie, and Mary. Mrs. Turrentine is a daughter 
of Judge Thomas J. Kilby, whose father, John Kilby, 
was one of the gallant crew of the Bon Homme Richard 
under John Paul Jones. 

Robert C. Twitty, a well-to-do farmer of Warren county, 
left home and a young wife, in the spring of 1861, to 
take up arms for the cause of his State and the Confed¬ 
eracy, and enlisted as second lieutenant of Company I, 
Twelfth regiment, State troops. He served with this 
infantry command for one year, and then, upon re¬ 
enlisting, was transferred to the First cavalry regiment. 
First as private for six months, and then as adjutant of 
the regiment, he was identified with its famous career 
through the four years of war. Under Hampton and 
Stuart, Baker and Barringer, he was among the bravest 
of the heroic troopers who won renown for the old North 
State on the soil of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylva¬ 
nia. Among the numerous engagements in which he 
took part with the First cavalry, were the fights on the 
occasion of Wilson’s raid, White Oak Swamp, Spottsyl- 
vania Court House, and the many fights around Rich¬ 
mond and Petersburg, including the battle of Charles 
City Road, where he was wounded, Belfield, the Hampton 
cattle raid, and the final engagements at Chamberlain’s 
Run, Five Forks and Namozine church. After the regi¬ 
ment was disbanded at Danville, Va., Adjutant Twitty 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


777 


returned home and resumed his occupation as a farmer, 
in which he has ever since continued. He is an influen¬ 
tial man in the county, and has served three terms as 
president of the board of commissioners. He was born 
in Warren county, January 6, 1838, was educated at Trin¬ 
ity college, Randolph county, and in i860 was married to 
Sarah F. Palmer, by whom he has eight children living: 
William T., Ph. D., M. D., a physician at Buffalo, N. Y.; 
James G., a pharmacist, and Robert H., a veterinary sur¬ 
geon, both at the same city; William A., Caroline, wife of 
Horace Palmer, of Warren county; Harriet, wife of W. T. 
Fitts, of Keysville, Va.; Mary, wife of William H. Pal¬ 
mer, of Buffalo, N. Y., and Anna. Two cousins of Mr. 
Twitty were in the Confederate service: Henry F., who 
enlisted in 1862, was in numerous engagements and was 
severely wounded at Bristoe Station and at Spottsylvania 
Court House, and, after the war, engaged in farming 
until his death in 1888; and John E. Twitty, who entered 
the Twelfth infantry in 1861, and participated in all 
its service until he was wounded at Spottsylvania, from 
the effects of which he soon afterward died at Wash¬ 
ington. 

Alvis K. Umstead, a Confederate veteran now promi¬ 
nent in the business circles of Durham, was born in what 
is now Durham county, in 1839, a son of Squire D. 
Umstead, a native of North Carolina. He entered the 
military service of the State, in May, 1861, as a private 
in Company B, of Colonel Fisher’s regiment, the Sixth 
North Carolina volunteers. With this gallant command 
he was on duty in the Shenandoah valley, under Gen. 
J. E. Johnston, and arrived at the plains of Manassas 
with Bee’s brigade in time to participate in the glorious 
victory of July 21st. In the spring of 1862 he was at 
Yorktown, until the evacuation, and afterward took part 
in the battle of Seven Pines and the Seven Days’ cam¬ 
paign before Richmond. Thence marching into Mary¬ 
land, he did a soldier’s duty at South mountain and 
Sharpsburg. After the return of the army to Virginia, 
he was transferred to Company K, Second North Caro¬ 
lina cavalry, with which he took part in the operations 
under Gen. J. E. B. Stuart during the Chancellorsville 
campaign, and followed that gallant leader through 
Maryland and Pennsylvania, while Lee’s army was 


778 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


invading the North. He was in the cavalry battle at 
Gettysburg on July 3d, and afterward shared the service 
of the cavalry in protecting the retreat. He continued to 
fight with Stuart through the autumn of 1863, at the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and until the 
fateful day at Yellow Tavern. He rode with Hampton’s 
troopers in the daring raid around Grant’s army to City 
Point, and was identified with the career of Barringer’s 
brigade until the evacuation of Petersburg. At that 
time, being on detached duty, he was not able to rejoin 
the army before the surrender. After his return to 
North Carolina, Mr. Umstead was occupied in farming 
for a period of fourteen years, and still gives a portion of 
his attention to the management of his agricultural inter¬ 
ests. Since 1879 he has resided at Durham, where he 
does an extensive business in the manufacture and sale 
of leaf tobacco. 

Benjamin W. Upchurch, a well-known business man of 
Spring Hope, N. C., rendered faithful service during the 
war as a private in the North Carolina troops, both upon 
the soil of his native State and in southeastern Virginia. 
He was born in Nash county, in 1844, and when eighteen 
years of age became a member of the company of Capt. 
J. W. Nichols, with which he was on duty along the 
Raleigh & Gaston railroad and in various skirmishes 
with the enemy. Later he became a member of the 
Sixtieth regiment, with which he took part in the famous 
victory at Plymouth, early in 1864, and immediately 
afterward was transferred to the field of conflict in Vir¬ 
ginia, fighting against Butler on the Bermuda Hundred 
line, and participating in the repulse of the Federal as¬ 
saults at Cold Harbor. In the latter battle, June 5, 1864, 
he was seriously wounded, incapacitating him for further 
duty in the field. After lying in hospital at Rich¬ 
mond several months, he was sent home, and in Novem¬ 
ber, 1864, was assigned to duty in the hospital at 
Wilson, where he remained until the capitulation of 
Johnston’s army. Ever since the close of hostilities 
he has been engaged in business in his native county. 
In 1865 he was married to Virginia A. Matthews, 
and they have three children living: Virginia A., 
wife of W. H. Styles; Benjamin W., and Henry C. 
Upchurch, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


779 


Burges Urquhart, a prosperous farmer of Bertie 
county, and one of the youngest survivors of the Con¬ 
federate service, was born in Isle of Wight county, Va., 
April 5 > 1847* During the early period of the war he 
was still in school, but he left his studies at Bingham’s 
school, then in Orange county, N. C., and enlisted in 
June, 1864, as a private in Sturdivant’s battery, light 
artillery. He served as an artilleryman from that time 
until April, 1865, taking part in the hard fighting and 
deprivation of the veterans on the Petersburg lines 
throughout the long siege, and then, after the city was 
evacuated, was in frequent battle with the pursuing 
enemy until his command, reaching Lynchburg, was 
informed of the surrender by General Lee, when the bat¬ 
tery was disbanded. Then returning home, young 
Urquhart resumed his school studies in Hanover county, 
for two years, after which he took charge of his interest 
in his father’s estate, lands in Bertie county, where he 
lias ever since resided, giving his attention to agricult¬ 
ure. He is one of the prosperous and influential men of 
the county. On June 6, 1871, Mr. Urquhart was mar¬ 
ried to Mary B., daughter of Lewis Thompson, for many 
years one of the most prominent men of North Carolina, 
and they have six children living: Pattie Thompson, 
Mary Norfleet, Margaret McKenzie, Louise Hill, Bur- 
ges, Jr., and Richard Alexander. 

Major William Wiley Vannoy, of North Wilkesboro, a 
Confederate veteran of the North Carolina troops, was 
born in Wilkes county, July 22, 1835, and enlisted in the 
spring of 1861, in the volunteer company organized in 
Wilkes county, commanded by Capt. Hamilton A. Brown. 
This was mustered in as Company B of the First regi¬ 
ment, Col. M. S. Stokes, and he went to the front in 
Virginia as a sergeant of his company. Soon afterward 
he was promoted second lieutenant. In his first battle, 
at Seven Pines, he was captured by the enemy, and, 
being taken to Fort Delaware, was confined there until 
August, 1862. On being exchanged, he rejoined his 
command and participated in the battle of Fredericks¬ 
burg, where the misfortune which had attended him was 
still more manifest. In this, his second battle, he re¬ 
ceived a severe wound, which destroyed his left eye. 
He was disabled at home for three months, rejoining his 


780 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


command in the battle of Chancellorsville. He then con¬ 
tinued on duty until August, 1863, when he was dis¬ 
charged on account of disability. Immediately upon his 
return to North Carolina, he was commissioned major, 
by Governor Vance, and assigned to a command with the 
reserve troops and with special duties. In this capacity he 
served until the close of hostilities. He was subsequently 
engaged in farming, with the exception of six years in 
business at Wilkesboro, until 1891, when he embarked in 
business as a merchant at North Wilkesboro. He has also 
rendered public service as constable and deputy sheriff. 

Major W. G. Vardell, at the beginning of the war of 
the Confederacy a prominent business man of Charleston, 
sacrificed other interests upon the altar of patriotism, and 
served with credit as a staff officer under General Ripley, 
and other commanders in the State. His handsome res¬ 
idence, Cedar Grove, on the Ashley river, 11 miles above 
Charleston, was burned during the war. He was a 
worthy representative of the freedom-loving Huguenots 
who came to South Carolina through Holland, after the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes, and his ancestry in 
America runs back to the latter part of the seventeenth 
century. He married Miss Belle, of Charleston, a grand¬ 
daughter of Rev. Dr. James Malcombson, a native of 
Ireland, educated at Glasgow, Scotland, who was the 
founder of the Second Presbyterian church at Charles¬ 
ton, where he died of yellow fever in 1804. Rev. Charles 
Graves Vardell, son of Major Vardell, was born at Charles¬ 
ton, February 12, i860, was reared at Charleston and at 
Summerville, and at the latter place was occupied in youth 
in the phosphate works and upon the government tea farm. 
Going to St. Paul, Minn., when about twenty-two years 
of age, he was, while prostrated with typhoid fever, 
drawn to the sacred calling to which he has since devoted 
his life. After two years at Oberlin college, Ohio, he 
was graduated at Davidson college in 1888, and at 
Princeton seminary in 1891, and was licensed by the 
presbytery of New Brunswick in the latter year. In 
June, 1891, he was ordained as pastor of the New Bern 
(N. C.) Presbyterian church, his father, Major Vardell, 
who became a member of the Charleston presbytery late 
in life, taking part in the ceremony. He has given to 
his work the full energy of a bright intellect, exceptional 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


781 


activity, and consecrated devotion. In July, 1898, he was 
elected to the presidency of the Red Springs seminary 
for girls, at Red Springs, N. C., which has promise of a 
successful career under his management. He was married, 
in 1891, to Linda Lee, daughter of Rev. Jethro Rumple, 
D. D., of Salisbury, N. C., an accomplished lady who 
has charge of the musical department of the seminary. 

Captain Joshua W. Vick, of Selma, captain of Com¬ 
pany E, Seventh North Carolina State troops, was born 
in Nash county, in 1843. Being about eighteen years of 
age at the beginning of the Confederate era, he enlisted, 
April 1, 1861, as a private in the company of Capt. A. J. 
Taylor, organized at Wilson and Garysburg, and subse¬ 
quently assigned as Company E to the Seventh regi¬ 
ment, which was mustered in August 21, 1861. A year 
later he was elected first lieutenant, and in 1863 was pro¬ 
moted captain. The regiment served on the coast, par¬ 
ticipating in the battle of New Bern, until in May, 1862, 
in the brigade of General Branch, it moved to Peters¬ 
burg and began its career in the army of Northern Vir¬ 
ginia. Captain Vick participated in the battles of Hanover 
Court House, or Slash Church, Gaines’ Mill, Frayser’s 
Farm and Malvern Hill, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, 
Chancellorsville, the defeat of Milroy at Winchester, 
Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and other 
engagements. At Sharpsburg he was slightly wounded 
in the head, at Gettysburg was wounded in the left 
knee, causing his disability for three months; while par¬ 
ticipating in the famous charge of Cemetery hill, at Spott- 
sylvania, was wounded in the left shoulder, and at Win¬ 
chester was captured by the enemy, which was followed 
by his imprisonment for several weeks at Fort McHenry. 
After the close of hostilities he returned home and began 
the study of medicine, and was graduated professionally 
at Washington university, Baltimore. Since then he has 
been prominent in his profession. Captain Vick was 
married, in 1872, to Rosetta, daughter of Lunsford and 
Lorinda Richardson, and they have three children: Dora 
L., George D., and Edward W. 

Colonel Alfred Moore Waddell, of Wilmington, was 
born at Hillsboro, N. C., September 16, 1834, and was 
graduated at Chapel Hill in 1853. Then entering upon 


782 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY,, 


the study of law at Hillsboro, he was admitted to the bar 
in 1854, and two years later made his home at Wilming¬ 
ton, where he soon won consideration by his ability as a 
lawyer and eloquence as an orator. From July, i860, 
until some time in 1861, he owned and edited the Wil¬ 
mington Herald, the leading Whig paper of the Cape 
Fear region, in which he earnestly opposed secession, 
until the State had decided otherwise. He then offered 
his services as a soldier. While detailed in raising a 
company in Chatham county, he was commissioned cap¬ 
tain in the Fourth North Carolina regiment, one of the 
original ten furnished by the State. Subsequently he 
turned over his Chatham county company to Moore’s 
battery, and accompanied that command to South Caro¬ 
lina. In 1862 he was appointed adjutant of the Forty- 
first North Carolina regiment, or Third cavalry, and a year 
later was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. In this rank 
he served with the command under Hampton in the army 
of Northern Virginia, and participated in the cavalry 
fighting at Hanover Court House, on the Blackwater, at 
Jack’s shop, White Oak swamp, Hawes’ shop and Drew- 
ry’s bluff, rendering efficient and gallant service until in 
August, 1864, he became desperately ill. He resigned a 
month later, declaring that he wished to stand in no one’s 
path of promotion, but if he recovered would return as a 
private. He was not able to re-enter the service during 
the war, and was at Wilmington when that city was occu¬ 
pied by the Federal army. Subsequently he formed a 
law partnership at Wilmington with his father, Hon. 
Hugh Waddell, and devoted himself to professional work 
until, in 1870, he was suddenly called into the political 
field. The Democratic candidate for Congress having 
declined to make the race against Oliver H. Dockery, 
Mr. Waddell was tendered the nomination seventeen days 
before the day of election. Dockery’s previous majority 
had been about 2,000, but Colonel Waddell made a vigor¬ 
ous fight, victoriously engaged his renowned opponent in 
debate, and was elected by 300 majority. He was three 
times re-elected, and as a representative of North Caro¬ 
lina in Congress made a very creditable career. His 
manly and eloquent defense of the South, in April, 1862, 
as a member of the “Ku Klux” committee, attracted 
much attention, as did his noted speech of January, 
1876. During his last term he held the chairmanship of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


783 


the postoffice committee. He was a delegate-at-large to 
the national convention which nominated Hancock, whom 
he supported in public addresses throughout several 
Northern States. In 1882 he resumed his connection 
with journalism as editor of the Charlotte Journal, but not 
long afterward returned to Wilmington and the practice 
of law. In 1888 he was a candidate for the United States 
Senate to succeed Senator Ransom. He has delivered 
several famous public addresses, prominent among which 
are those at the unveiling of the Confederate monument at 
Raleigh, at the observance of the centennial of the uni¬ 
versity of North Carolina, and at the laying of the cor¬ 
nerstone of the R. E. Lee monument at Richmond. 

Lieutenant Henry J. Walker, M. D., of Huntersville, 
was born in Mecklenburg county, June 24, 1836, the son 
of Thomas J. and Jane (Beattie) Walker. A brother, 
L. J. Walker, is elsewhere mentioned in this volume. 
He was educated at Due West college, South Carolina, 
and in April, 1861, became a member of a volunteer com¬ 
pany, which was subsequently assigned to the Third regi¬ 
ment of volunteers and mustered in as Company B. In 
the following year, upon re-enlistment, the regiment was 
numbered the Thirteenth. He served with this com¬ 
mand as a sergeant and later as second lieutenant, in the 
army of Northern Virginia, participating in the battles of 
Williamsburg, Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ fighting 
before Richmond, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fred¬ 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. During 
nearly his whole service he was with the sharpshooters of 
his brigade, and had many daring adventures and thrill¬ 
ing experiences. On the retreat from Gettysburg he 
was severely wounded at Hagerstown, which necessitated 
the immediate amputation of his left leg. He was taken 
to an improvised hospital at Martinsburg, and falling into 
the hands of the enemy, was taken in September to West 
building hospital at Baltimore, where he was cared for 
until November, then being transferred to Johnson’s 
island prison camp. There he remained until exchanged, 
May 17, 1864. While a prisoner of war he began the 
study of medicine, which he continued at the university 
of New York in 1873. Since then he has enjoyed an 
extensive and lucrative practice at Huntersville. On 
June 23, 1864, he was married to Catherine E. Berryhill, 


784 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


to whom he had been betrothed before his enlistment, 
and they have five children living: Margaret Alice, wife 
of Rev. J. Brice Cochrane, of Murphy; Dr. Charles E., 
a graduate of the medical department of the university of 
Maryland, and the partner of his father; Rev. William 
L., pastor of the Third Presbyterian church at Greenville, 
S. C. ; James Oscar, and Katie J. 

Levi J. Walker, a well-known citizen and retired busi¬ 
ness man of Charlotte, was born in Mecklenburg county, 
August 20, 1841, the son of Thomas J. and Jane (Beattie) 
Walker. He was reared upon the farm of his parents, 
and for eight years prior to the Confederate era was 
employed in the Rock Island woolen mills. He enlisted 
in April, 1861, as a private in Company B, Thirteenth 
North Carolina infantry, Gen. W. D. Pender’s old regi¬ 
ment, and going into Virginia soon afterward, shared the 
gallant service of his regiment at Yorktown, Williams¬ 
burg, Seven Pines, Gaines’ Mill, Frayser’s farm, Me- 
chanicsville, Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg 
and Chancellorsville. In the victorious but bloody fight 
of July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg, he fell with two bullet 
wounds, and another more serious wound from a frag¬ 
ment of shell, which made necessary the amputation of 
his left leg. Falling into the hands of the enemy, he 
was taken to David’s island, New York, and held in a 
prison hospital for eight months. He was then exchanged, 
but was, of course, wholly incapacitated for further serv¬ 
ice. A brother to whom he was and is greatly attached, 
Dr. H. J. Walker, now residing at Huntersville, N. C., 
during the retreat from Gettysburg also received wounds 
which caused the loss of his left leg. The photographs 
which they treasure, showing the two at enlistment and 
again at the close of the war, are a telling illustration of 
the effects of war. For twenty-five years after the close 
of hostilities, Mr. Walker was engaged in the wholesale 
and retail grocery trade at Charlotte, and for three years 
was proprietor of a leading drug store, but since then he 
has been retired from business. He is a faithful mem¬ 
ber of Mecklenburg camp, Confederate veterans, with the 
rank of past first lieutenant-commander. He was mar¬ 
ried, in 1867, to Dorcas Marshall, and after her death, in 
1869, he married Leonora C. Montgomery, who died in 
1892. One child is living, Julia A., wife of W. L. O'Con¬ 
nell, of Charlotte. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


785 


Charles Thornton Wall, of Rural Hall, Forsyth 
county, a gallant survivor of the Twenty-first regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina troops, was in a number of the 
fiercest conflicts of the army of Northern Virginia, and 
attested his devotion to the cause of the Confederacy by 
many months of suffering. He was born in Forsyth 
county, August 12, 1843, and in May, 1861, enlisted in 
Company G of Colonel Kirkland’s regiment, then called 
the Tenth volunteers, whose service he shared at Manas¬ 
sas and in the famous campaign of the Shenandoah valley 
under Stonewall Jackson. At the battle of Winchester, 
in this campaign, he was so unfortunate as to receive a 
gunshot wound in the head, which nearly caused his 
death, and deprived him of the power of speech for 
eight weeks. He was in hospital at Winchester, Staun¬ 
ton, Richmond and Lynchburg, and finally returned to 
his command in time to take part in the battle of Sharps- 
burg, where he was wounded in the left thigh and taken 
prisoner. When released from imprisonment, he fought 
with his regiment at Gettysburg and fell in the first day’s 
battle, with a wound in the left leg. This, however, did 
not prevent his continuing on duty, though constantly 
troubled by his wounds. In spite of his injuries he was 
in most of the great battles of the army, and in 1864 
served in the trenches at Petersburg. At the time of 
the surrender he was acting as a commissary in North 
Carolina, and after the surrender of Lee, returned to his 
home. In 1875 he was married to Miss C. Beck, and 
they have three children, Lillie, Willie and Victoria. 

W. W. Ward, of Charlotte, a veteran of the artillery 
service of the Confederacy, was born at Unionville, S. C., 
December 21, 1845, the son °f H. N. Ward, a native of 
North Carolina, and his wife, Mary Pegram. On Sep¬ 
tember 19, 1861, in his sixteenth year, young Ward 
enlisted in the Confederate service as a private in the 
Macbeth light artillery, with which he served until the 
close of the war. With this command he served under 
Gens. N. G. Evans, Beauregard, Longstreet and J. E. 
Johnston, and participated in various campaigns through¬ 
out the South, including the battles of Secessionville, 
S. C., Kinston, N. C., and Jackson, Miss. Though fre¬ 
quently warmly engaged with the enemy, he was never 
wounded or captured, though he had occasional narrow 


786 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


escapes, as at Kinston, where, having- been sent back for 
ammunition, he returned to the field after his comrades 
had retreated. He surrendered at Asheville, April 26, 
1865, and since then has resided at Charlotte, where he 
is a popular and esteemed citizen. His attention has 
been given to business pursuits, in which he has pros¬ 
pered. He is a member of the Mecklenburg camp, and 
is a director of the Ada and Louisa cotton mills, of 
Charlotte. On January 6, 1870, he was married to 
Isabella Gilson, of Fort Mill, S. C., and they have six 
children. 

Roberson R. Warren, a brave soldier of the Sixty- 
seventh North Carolina regiment, now a prosperous 
farmer of Beaufort county, was born at Blount’s Creek, 
in 1843. He is of patriotic American stock, his great¬ 
grandfather having been a soldier of the revolutionary 
army. Early in June, 1861, he entered the military serv¬ 
ice of the State and the Confederacy as a private in the 
company organized in Craven county by Capt. John N. 
Whitford, subsequently assigned to the Tenth regiment, 
heavy artillery, as Company A. With this command he 
took part in the battle of New Bern under General 
Branch, and an engagement near Kinston soon afterward, 
and then his company was detached and became the 
nucleus of the Sixty-seventh regiment, under command 
of Colonel Whitford. He served as corporal in this regi¬ 
ment until the end of the war, taking part in a number 
of engagements, among them the fight at Cox’s bridge, 
near Bentonville, and the siege and capture of Plymouth. 
In this regiment his brother, John W. Warren, also 
served from the time of organization, and was badly 
wounded by a fragment of shell in a skirmish near Kins¬ 
ton. Since the close of hostilities, Mr. Warren has been 
engaged in farming in his native county. By his mar¬ 
riage, in 1888, to Carrie M. Brand, he has five children: 
Robert Thurston, Carmen, Lillian McMasters, Rosaline 
G., and Cecil Clyce. 

Colonel J. A. Washington, of the Fiftieth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, was born in Wayne county, in 
1832. He entered the active service in April, 1861, as 
sergeant of the Goldsboro Rifles, and in the following 
month organized a new company, of which he was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


787 


elected captain. This was assigned to the Second regi¬ 
ment of infantry as Company H, and he served in com¬ 
mand of it until the period of enlistment of the regiment, 
one year, had expired. He was then elected lieutenant- 
colonel of the Fiftieth regiment, and in January, 1863, 
was elected colonel. He commanded the regiment, and 
engaged in various skirmishes during the operations in 
North Carolina in the spring of 1863. After about 
eighteen months’ service with the Fiftieth regiment, he 
resigned his commission and was no longer on duty. He 
was a faithful and efficient officer, and while the circum¬ 
stances of the service did not afford him participation in 
any of the great battles of the war, he demonstrated, in the 
minor encounters with the enemy, his ability to meet any 
requirement. Since the war Colonel Washington has 
been a resident of Goldsboro. 

Captain Samuel Blackwell Waters, of New Bern, who 
gave four years’ service to the cause of the Confederate 
States, is a native of Long Island, N. Y., born in 
1835. At the age of six years he came with his mother 
to New Bern, the residence of her brother, John Black- 
well, where he was reared until he entered St. Timothy’s 
hall, Maryland. Subsequently he attended the Walter 
Chisholm preparatory school, at Woodstock, N. Y., pre¬ 
paring for entrance to Columbia college, but instead of 
continuing his studies, entered mercantile life at New 
York city, where he remained five years, in 1858 being 
united in marriage to Phoebe C. Welling. In the same 
year he returned to North Carolina and embarked in 
business at Little Washington, where, at the advent of 
war, he organized a volunteer company of which he was 
elected first lieutenant. His command was assigned to 
the Third regiment, North Carolina troops, and he con¬ 
tinued in the same rank until the reorganization, when 
he was promoted captain in the Confederate States army, 
and assigned as adjutant to the Eighteenth regiment. 
He participated in the battles of First Manassas, was 
on duty for some time at Aquia creek, and fought at 
Hanover Court House, Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill and 
Frayser’s farm, in the latter battle being knocked from 
his horse by an exploding shell and disabled for several 
weeks. Upon convalescence he was appointed enrolling 
officer and provost-marshal of Raleigh, and continued in 

Nc 73 


f 


788 


CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 


that duty until General Johnston occupied the city, 
when he was detailed to the quartermaster’s department 
under Maj. W. W. Pierce. Later, having been offered 
the position of commissary and rank of major with Gen. 
Fitzhugh Lee, he attempted to join that officer, but on 
reaching Weldon found he was cut off. He made his way 
to Elizabeth City, and soon afterward went to New 
York city, his wife having gone through the block¬ 
ade six months before, and was engaged in busi¬ 
ness there until 1867. Then returning to North Caro¬ 
lina, he was in business at Salisbury two years and at 
Wilson until 1882, since which date he has been a citizen 
of New Bern. 

C. Barksdale Watson was born in Forsyth county, N. 
C., in 1844. His paternal ancestors moved into North 
Carolina from Prince Edward county, Va., in the latter 
part of the eighteenth century. His grandmother, from 
whom he received his middle name, was a Barksdale 
from Halifax county, Va. In the early part of 1862 he 
volunteered and served throughout the war as a sergeant 
in Company K, Forty-fifth regiment of North Carolina 
volunteers, Rodes’ division, Ewell’s corps, of the army of 
Northern Virginia. He faithfully performed his duties 
as a soldier, in camp, on the march, and upon the field 
of battle. He was three times wounded, twice slightly, 
and once (at Spottsylvania Court House) severely. 
From this last wound he has never fully recovered, 
although he did report for duty after a partial recovery, 
and was serving on the line at Petersburg on that day of 
fierce battle when Grant broke through the attenuated 
line, on which men were posted several yards apart. 
He retreated with the army to Appomattox, where the 
gallant host that had followed Lee laid down their arms 
and furled the banners that had so often waved defiantly 
in the front of battle. Returning home, Mr. Watson 
studied law and settled in Winston, N. C., where he has 
practiced his profession since August, 1869. In 1888 he 
was elected to the State senate and served two terms. 
In 1893 he was elected to the house of representatives, 
and in 1896 was nominated by the Democratic party for 
governor. Division among the Democrats, and the fact 
that the third party had a ticket in the field, caused his 
defeat by D. L. Russell, the Republican candidate. Mr. 




CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


789 


Watson is one of the most successful lawyers of North 
Carolina and has an extensive practice, especially in the 
northwestern counties of the State. 

Harrison Watts, past lieutenant-commander of Meck¬ 
lenburg camp, United Confederate Veterans, of Char¬ 
lotte, is a native of Livingston county, Ky., born May 2, 
1840. He is the son of David and Caroline (Given) 
Watts, of that county, and residents of Paducah, where 
his father was engaged in business as a banker. He was 
educated at Paducah, receiving the degree of bachelor of 
arts at a college there when seventeen }^ears of age, and 
afterward studied two years in the university of Virginia. 
Returning to Paducah, where he became the cashier of 
his father’s bank, he went to St. Louis, in the spring of 
1861, and joined the battery of light artillery organized 
at that city under Capt. Emmet MacDonald. With this 
command he served under Gen. Sterling Price during the 
struggle for the possession of Missouri, fighting at Spring- 
field and Pea Ridge, and then crossing the Mississippi 
took part in the battles of Shiloh and Farmington. Dur¬ 
ing this service he held the rank of lieutenant. After 
the battle of Farmington he was detailed for the naval 
service and sent to Liverpool, England, to go out upon 
one of the cruisers building at that place. But, like 
many others on the same mission, he never had the 
opportunity to carry the flag of the Confederacy on the 
high seas, on account of the non-completion of the ves¬ 
sels. Returning to America after the war, he engaged in 
cotton brokerage at New Orleans, from 1865 to 1878, 
and while there was elected marshal of the Crescent City 
White league, in which capacity he commanded Section 
Ain the fight on the levee, September 14, 1874. Since 
1878 he has been one of the leading cotton brokers of 
Charlotte, and is popular with all, notably with the 
comrades of Mecklenburg camp, who have honored him 
with the ranks of lieutenant-commander and acting com¬ 
mander. He was married in September, 1864, while at 
Liverpool, to Susan F. Brown, an American lady, and 
they have two children: Harry Dickson Watts, of Char¬ 
lotte, and Mrs. James Campbell Flournoy, of Kentucky. 

John K. Wells, of Shelby, a veteran of the Twelfth 
regiment, North Carolina troops, was born in Cleveland 


790 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


county, in 1844, the son of John K. Wells, also a native 
of that county. In the fall of 1862 he left school and 
enlisted in Company E of the Twelfth regiment, joining 
his command in winter quarters near Fredericksburg, 
Va. His first battle was at Fredericksburg, and in the 
following spring he participated in the engagements of 
Jackson’s corps, on Saturday and Sunday, at Chancel- 
lorsville. In this battle his captain, J. W. Gidney, was 
distinguished for gallantry, in rushing to the front of the 
regiment with flashing sword and calling the men to fol¬ 
low him, as they stood hesitating in the face of the Fed¬ 
eral army. In this battle also, Louis M. Wells, a brother 
of John K., met his death in the ranks. Subsequently 
Mr. Wells was disabled for some time with typhoid fever 
and was for two months in the hospital at Richmond. In 
August, 1863, he rejoined his command at Orange Court 
House, and after participating in the Bristoe and Mine 
Run campaigns, shared the gallant service of his regi¬ 
ment under Gordon in the battle of the Wilderness. At 
Spottsylvania he fought on the line of the bloody angle, 
and at Cold Harbor he was among the heroes who held 
their position in spite of the repeated and desperate 
assaults of Grant’s army. Subsequently he shared the 
services of Rodes’ division in the repulse of Hunter at 
Lynchburg, the campaign through Maryland against 
Washington, and the famous battles of the Valley cam¬ 
paign of 1864, including Winchester, Fisher’s Hill and 
Cedar Creek. In December, 1864, he was again with 
Lee’s army on the Petersburg lines, fought at Hatcher’s 
run, shared the desperate assault of Gordon’s troops 
upon the Federal lines at Fort Stedman, and on the 2d 
of April, 1865, took part in the recapture of Fort Mahone. 
When the retreat began he was one of the last to cross 
the river, and before he arrived at Appomattox, was 
several times engaged in battle against the pursuing 
enemy. Throughout this service he fought as a private 
and escaped without injury, except a slight wound 
received at Chancellorsville. Since the war he has been 
engaged in farming, and is one of the leading and pros¬ 
perous men of his county. From 1880 to 1888 he served 
as register of deeds, and in 1896 he held the office of col¬ 
lector of taxes. He was married, in 1872, to Rachel, 
daughter of James M. Ware. 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


791 


Major Stephen Whitaker, a prosperous farmer of Cher¬ 
okee county and a veteran of Thomas’ legion, was born 
in Buncombe county, in 1814, the son of James and Polly 
(Walker) Whitaker, natives of Wilkes county. His 
father represented Buncombe county in the legislature, 
and in 1835 removed to Cherokee county, then a part of 
Macon, under a permit from the Indians, and was asso¬ 
ciated with Rev. Humphrey Posey in the establishment 
of the Hiawassee mission station. He was the first rep¬ 
resentative of Cherokee county in the legislature, and 
passed his declining years upon a farm near the present 
site of Andrews. Major Whitaker began his career as 
a farmer by the purchase of 160 acres at the Indian land 
sale in 1838, where he still resides, having increased his 
holdings to more than 15,000 acres of valuable land. At 
the beginning of the Confederate war, he organized a 
company on Valley river, of which he was commissioned 
captain, and which was mustered in by Major Stringfield 
as Company E of Walker’s battalion, Thomas’ legion. 
With this command he served in Tennessee, Virginia and 
North Carolina, in many skirmishes, and commanded the 
advance guard under General Early in the demonstration 
against Washington, in 1864. Afterward he was ordered 
to Cherokee county to protect the citizens against 
marauders, and surrendered to Colonel Kirk, at Frank¬ 
lin, Macon county, N. C., May 12, 1865, and paroled his 
command after the surrender of General Lee became 
known to him, being the last command to surrender in 
North Carolina. By his marriage, in 1835, to Miss Eliza¬ 
beth Taylor, thirteen children were born, of whom two 
served in the Confederate army. J. Mack Whitaker 
enlisted in his father’s company at the age of sixteen 
years, and served to the end, as a faithful and cour¬ 
ageous soldier; and David was in the Confederate service 
from the beginning to the close of the war, winning pro¬ 
motion to a lieutenancy. 

Alphonzo White, of Perquimans county, a veteran of 
the North Carolina State troops, was born in the county 
where he now resides in the year 1845. His youth pre¬ 
vented an early enlistment with the forces of the Confed¬ 
eracy, but in 1863, having reached the age of eighteen 
years, he became a member of Webb’s battery, Starr’s 
battalion of light artillery, as a private, and during the 


792 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 


remainder of the struggle he was identified with the serv¬ 
ice of that command. His battalion, in the performance 
of the necessary duty assigned it, did not often meet the 
enemy in battle, being called upon mainly to defend the 
Petersburg lines while the army of Northern Virginia 
was occupied elsewhere, and to guard the coast and the 
line of the Weldon railroad, but his record is character¬ 
ized by the same faithfulness to duty which is the crown¬ 
ing glory of the Confederate soldier wherever placed. 
He served at Petersburg, at Fort Fisher, and for a long 
time at Weldon. The battalion was disbanded after the 
surrender of General Lee, but Private White was one 
of seventeen adventurous spirits who determined to 
unite with Johnston’s army and continue the fight. In 
this they were prevented by the operations of the Fed¬ 
eral army, and they were consequently compelled to sur¬ 
render and give their parole at Raleigh. He has since 
then been mainly occupied in agriculture, though he has 
for some time also been interested in the manufacture of 
lumber and in the mercantile business. He has served 
as a magistrate, and since 1892 has been the deputy 
sheriff of his county. Mr. White was married, in 1867, 
to Sallie Billups, who died in 1888, and in 1889 he wedded 
Gertrude Haskett. Eight children are living: Robert 
T., Jesse, Mattie A., and Alphonzo, by the first mar¬ 
riage; and Elbert, Joseph W., Sallie A., and Ruth A., 
by the second. 

Captain Joseph Harvey White, a gallant soldier of 
Daniel’s brigade, who fell at the bloody angle at Spott- 
sylvania Court House, was born in York county, S. C., 
December 21, 1824. His parents were William E. White, 
a farmer of York county, and Sarah, daughter of Rev. 
McKamie Wilson, an eminent Presbyterian divine of that 
period. He was reared in his native county and grad¬ 
uated at Davidson college, after which he entered busi¬ 
ness life at Charleston, S. C., as a commission merchant. 
While thus embarking in his life career, he was married, 
October 16, 1850, to Sarah J. Young, daughter of Joseph 
Young, a merchant and planter of Cabarrus county, and 
an elder in the Presbyterian church. Two years later 
Captain White removed to Charlotte and took charge of 
a plantation, which he owned near that city, and was 
thus engaged at the formation of the Confederate States 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


793 


government. In 1862 he organized and was elected cap¬ 
tain of a company which became Company B of the Fifty- 
third regiment, Gen. Junius Daniel’s brigade. With this 
command he joined the army of Northern Virginia, and 
took part in a number of famous battles, including those 
of Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Bristoe Sta¬ 
tion, and in May, 1864, engaged in the bloody struggle 
with Grant’s army in the Wilderness and Spottsylvania 
Court House. The fighting began on the 5th and raged 
almost continuously for nearly two weeks. On May 12 th 
Hancock’s corps swept over the angle in the works near 
Spottsylvania Court House, taking many prisoners, and 
breaking the Confederate line; and in the desperate 
charge which was made, saving Lee’s army from imme¬ 
diate destruction, Captain White’s life was part of the 
bloody sacrifice. He was a gallant officer and died 
nobly. His widow, who warmly cherishes his memory 
and all the heroic memories of the cause for which he 
perished, is yet living at Charlotte, beloved by many. 

William Edward White, M. D., an early martyr in the 
cause of Southern independence, was born at Fort Mill, 
S. C., March 15, 1835, the third son of William E. White 
and his wife, Sarah Wilson. He was one of six brothers 
who joined the Confederate States forces. He was 
reared at Fort Mill and educated at Davidson college and 
the university of New York, being graduated at the lat¬ 
ter institution as doctor of medicine in 1858. Subse¬ 
quently he practiced his profession at Charlotte, with 
much success and promise of a useful career, and on 
October 16, i860, was married to Sarah Caldwell, daugh¬ 
ter of D. A. and Martha (Bishop) Caldwell, natives of 
Mecklenburg county. In May, 1861, enthusiastically 
devoted to the cause of his State and the Confederacy, 
he left home to accept the rank of assistant surgeon of 
the Seventh North Carolina regiment of infantry. With 
this command he served at its various stations in North 
Carolina until he was disabled by camp fever, of which 
he died, November 9, 1861. He had already, in a brief 
service, demonstrated fine professional attainments and 
capabilities which promised rapid promotion. His widow, 
faithful singly to his memory, yet resides at Charlotte, 
and warmly cherishes the heroic memories of the Con¬ 
federacy. 


794 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Leroy R. Whitener, a prominent citizen of Hickory, 
and a veteran of Garland’s brigade, army of Northern 
Virginia, was born in Catawba county, N. C., in 1837, 
a descendant of one of the first settlers of that region. 
He entered the Confederate service April 27, 1861, as a 
private in the Second regiment of volunteers, under Col. 
Sol Williams, later known as the Twelfth regiment. 
This regiment was organized before the State seceded, 
and he was in Raleigh at the time of secession. During 
his service he was promoted to sergeant. During his 
first year’s duty in Virginia he was a witness of the naval 
encounter between the Virginia and Monitor, and after 
the evacuation of Norfolk he fought in the Seven Days’ 
battles before Richmond. After the victory at Second 
Manassas came the celebrated fight of his brigade at 
South mountain, defending the passes against McClel¬ 
lan’s army, where Garland was killed, and the bloody 
struggle at Sharpsburg immediately ensued. He fought 
at Fredericksburg, was near the spot where General 
Jackson was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville, and 
at Gettysburg shared the gallant service of Rodes’ divi¬ 
sion, until he was wounded and captured by the enemy. 
Fortunately he was held but a few weeks at David’s island 
and then paroled. Upon his exchange, in October follow¬ 
ing, he rejoined his regiment, and in 1864 was in battle 
at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House and 
Cold Harbor; was with Early at the battle of Monocacy 
and the demonstration against Washington city, and in 
the fall took part in the desperate struggle against Sher¬ 
idan’s superior numbers at Winchester and Cedar creek. 
After this he fought in the Petersburg trenches, was in 
the battle of Hatcher’s Run and several other engage¬ 
ments, and upon the retreat to Appomattox, in which he 
was frequently engaged, was surrendered with the rem¬ 
nant of the glorious old army. In addition to his wound 
at Gettysburg, he was slightly injured at Cold Harbor 
and Hatcher’s Run. Since the war he has been engaged 
in farming, but since 1887 has resided at Hickory, where 
he is also engaged in business. He has had a prominent 
career as a public official, eight years as county commis¬ 
sioner, as a member of the board of aldermen, and twice 
mayor of the city, and is now a director of the Western 
asylum at Morganton and representative of the county 
in the legislature. He was married, January 12, 1866, 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


795 


to Miss Martha J. Shuford, with whom he lived happily 
until her death, February 3, 1896. He was married 
again, June 22, 1897, to Mrs. Alice Ingold Murrill. 

Anderson Lindsay Whitt, of Pilot Mountain, Surry 
county, was born in Randolph county, June 5, 1840, but 
was brought by his parents to the town where he now 
resides in 1841. There he enlisted, June 9, 1861, as a 
private in Company H of the Eleventh regiment of vol¬ 
unteers, Gen. W. W. Kirkland’s old regiment, later 
known as the Twenty-first, State troops. Early in 1861 
he accompanied his regiment to Danville, and thence to 
Richmond, and on July 21st shared the service of his 
command in the great victory over McDowell’s army. 
After remaining in camp near Manassas during the win¬ 
ter, he took part in the active and glorious campaign 
under Jackson, in the Shenandoah valley, as a private in 
Trimble’s brigade of Ewell’s division. Then being 
ordered to Richmond, he went through the Seven Days’ 
campaign, the Second Manassas campaign and battles of 
Jackson’s corps, and took part in the capture of Harper’s 
Ferry and the battle of Sharpsburg. Subsequently he 
was on duty in North Carolina until Petersburg was 
threatened by Butler, when he assisted in bottling that 
redoubtable warrior at Bermuda Hundred. Afterward, 
under the brigade command of General Lewis, in Ram- 
seur’s division, he marched with Early through Mary¬ 
land to Washington city and fought against Sheridan at 
Winchester and Cedar creek. His frequent service on 
the skirmish line kept him in frequent action, and he was a 
participant in many a hot fight that is not named in his¬ 
tory. Finally serving in the trenches about Petersburg, 
he became sick and unfit for duty, and was granted a fur¬ 
lough in January, 1865, after which he saw no more serv¬ 
ice. Since the close of hostilities he has been a resident 
of Pilot Knob, and in 1897 was appointed a justice of the 
peace. By his marriage, in 1866, to Cynthia Hill, he has 
the following children: Ernest E., William Luther, 
Mary Ella, Anne, Sarah Elizabeth, Cora Grant, and John 
Crockett. 

James Thomas Wiggins, a gallant North Carolina sol¬ 
dier, now residing at Wilson, was born at Oxford, Gran¬ 
ville county, in 1844, and reared and educated at Hender- 


796 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


son. He entered the Confederate service as a private in 
the Granville Grays, which was mustered in as Company 
C of the regiment first known as the Second and later as 
the Twelfth North Carolina infantry. He served with 
this command until December, 1861, when he was honor¬ 
ably discharged on account of physical disability. Recov¬ 
ering his strength, he re-enlisted, early in December, 
1862, as a private in Company K, Fifty-fourth regiment, 
Col. J. C. S. McDowell, Law’s brigade, Hood’s division. 
He was appointed fourth sergeant, and after participating 
in the battle of Fredericksburg, was promoted sergeant of 
sharpshooters, the capacity in which he served during 
the remainder of the war. He took part in the second 
battle at Fredericksburg, then in the defeat of Milroy at 
Winchester and the engagement at Williamsport, and in 
November, 1863, was captured in the disaster at Rappa¬ 
hannock Station, after which he was a prisoner of war at 
Point Lookout until early in the spring of 1864. Rejoin¬ 
ing his regiment, he took part in the campaign under 
Early in the Shenandoah valley, fighting at Winchester, 
Cedar creek, Fisher’s Hill and Waynesboro. At Cedar 
creek he was slightly wounded in the face by a piece of 
shell. Subsequently he served on the Petersburg lines, 
and was in the battles on the Vaughn road and at Fort 
Stedman or Hare’s Hill, and during the retreat was in 
frequent encounters with the enemy up to the surrender 
at Appomattox. Since then Sergeant Wiggins has de¬ 
voted himself to the pursuits of peace, making his home 
at Wilson. He had one brother in the service, Joseph 
L. Wiggins, who fought in the ranks of the Second regi¬ 
ment and afterward in the Twenty-fourth, and then 
served as purchasing agent with the rank of captain until 
captured in the latter part of 1864. He was imprisoned 
at Fort Delaware until the close of the war, and died 
two years later. 

Captain O. A. Wiggins, of Wilmington, a gallant vet¬ 
eran of Lane’s brigade, is one of seven brothers who 
were soldiers of the Confederacy. He was born in Hali¬ 
fax county, April 8, 1844, and in May, 1861, entered the 
service as a private in the Scotland Neck mounted rifle¬ 
men, organized in his native county, and subsequently 
was promoted to lieutenant of Company E, Thirty-seventh 
regiment, of the brigade then commanded by General 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


797 


Branch and later by General Lane. With this command 
he went through the entire war, participating in the bat¬ 
tles of Hanover Court House, Mechanicsville, Cold Har¬ 
bor, Frayser’s Farm, Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Ox 
Hill, Sharpsburg, Harper’s Ferry, Shepherdstown, Fred¬ 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Falling Waters, 
Bristoe Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylva- 
nia Court House, Reams’ Station, Jones’ Farm; Hare’s 
Hill, and the fighting on the Petersburg lines until they 
were broken. He was wounded at Chancellorsville, at 
Spottsylvania Court House, May 12th, was promoted cap¬ 
tain on the field, was wounded on the same field May 
21st, and at Petersburg, April 2d, was shot in the head 
and made prisoner. While being conveyed to Johnson’s 
island, he escaped by jumping from a car window while 
the train was at full speed, near Harrisburg, Pa., after 
which he disguised himself and worked his way back to 
Dixie. His brothers in the service were Blake B. Wig¬ 
gins, surgeon of a Mississippi regiment in Bragg’s army, 
who died in 1866; William H., a private throughout the 
war in the Texas rangers, died in 1867; John W., also in 
the Texas rangers, who served four years and died in 
1888; Thomas J., first in the Scotland Neck cavalry and 
later a lieutenant in the Thirty-seventh North Carolina, 
now living at Littleton; Alfred S., first lieutenant in 
Scotland Neck cavalry, killed May 17, 1863, near Suf¬ 
folk, and Eugene B., who enlisted at the age of fourteen 
in the First South Carolina rifles, was desperately 
wounded and lost an eye in the battles before Rich¬ 
mond, was honorably discharged, but re-enlisted in 1863, 
in Manly’s battery and surrendered at Appomattox. He 
died in 1886. 

Captain George Willcox, of Carbonton, a gallant officer 
of the Twenty-sixth regiment, was born in Moore county, 
June 17, 1835, the son of George and Margaret (Martin) 
Willcox. His family in both branches has borne an hon¬ 
orable part in the history of North Carolina for several 
generations. His grandfather, John Willcox, son of 
Thomas Willcox, is honorably mentioned in Wheeler’s 
history. Captain Willcox was educated at Carthage and 
at Carbonton, and then was occupied in farming until the 
beginning of the Confederate war. In May, 1861, he 
enlisted in Company H, Twenty-sixth regiment, North 


798 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


Carolina State troops, and during the succeeding cam¬ 
paigns bore himself with such valor and discretion that 
he rose to command of his company. He was one of the 
heroic North Carolinians who made the fame of Petti¬ 
grew’s brigade. His first battle was at New Bern, but 
subsequently he was identified with the army of North¬ 
ern Virginia, on the fields of that State, and of Maryland 
and Pennsylvania. At Malvern Hill, Gettysburg, the 
Wilderness, and in the hard fighting about Gettysburg, 
he represented well the indomitable valor of his State. 
At Gettysburg, July i, 1863, he was twice severely 
wounded in the foot and in the side, and on the retreat 
he was captured, July 4th, but was soon afterward res¬ 
cued by the Confederate forces and carried to hospital at 
Richmond. At the battle of the Wilderness he was shot 
through the shoulder, but not long afterward he was 
again in the ranks, and in October, 1864, in the thick of 
the fight at Burgess’ Mill, he was again captured, but 
again he succeeded in making his escape. He was finally 
surrendered at Appomattox, when he returned home and 
resumed his occupation as a farmer. He has repre¬ 
sented his county one term in the legislature, by election 
in 1884, and his senatorial district in the State senate, by 
election in 1890. In 1866 he was married to Isabel C. 
Palmer, and they have five children: Joseph M., Fred 
Leroy, Robert P., John and George W. 

Captain John Wilkes, of Charlotte, N. C., was born in 
New York city in 1827, the son of Admiral Charles 
Wilkes, United States navy, famous as the commander of 
the United States exploring expedition to the Antarctic 
ocean in 1838, and as the captor of the Confederate States 
commissioners, Messrs. Mason and Slidell. He entered the 
United States navy in 1841, as a midshipman, graduated 
at the United States naval academy, Annapolis, in 1847, 
at the head of a class of 135 members, and served in the 
Mexican war, participating in the attacks upon Brazos, 
Vera Cruz and other services performed by the navy 
Resigning in 1854, he made his home at Charlotte and 
engaged in mining and manufacturing. At the beg in - 
ning of the rupture between the South and North, he 
adhered to the cause of the State with which he had 
become identified. In 1858 he had founded what is now 
known as the Mecklenburg iron works, and this plant, 





I 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


799 


during the war, was used by the Confederate States gov¬ 
ernment in the manufacture of supplies for its navy. He 
was also engaged as railroad contractor in the govern¬ 
ment service, building that portion of the present South¬ 
ern railway system between Greensboro and Danville, 
and the road from Raleigh to the Deep River coal fields. 
In August, 1865, he organized the First national bank of 
Charlotte, N. C., this being the first national bank 
organized south of Richmond, Va., and became its pres¬ 
ident, until 1869, when he resigned to take charge of 
manufacturing interests, 4 n which he has always been 
largely engaged. Since 1870 he has been the manager of 
the Mecklenburg iron works, now the oldest manufactur¬ 
ing institution in the State. Captain Wilkes is prominent 
in the affairs of the Episcopal church, in Charlotte and in 
the diocese of North Carolina, having been at all the 
State conventions for forty years, and having represented 
the diocese in the general conventions since 1883. He 
is now president of the Alumni association of the United 
States naval academy, being one of the five oldest gradu¬ 
ates therefrom. In 1854 he was married to Miss Jane R. 
Smedberg, of New York city, and they have four chil¬ 
dren living. 

James E. Wilkins, for many years a resident of Wilson, 
N. C., is a native of Virginia, born in Norfolk county, in 
1836, and reared at Portsmouth, rendered his military 
service for the Confederacy in a Virginia regiment, the 
Sixteenth infantry, which was a part of the famous bri¬ 
gade of Gen. William Mahone. He served as a private 
for some time and afterward, in various capacities, as 
sergeant, in command of the ambulance corps, in charge 
of men in the pioneer corps, and attached to General 
Mahone’s headquarters as courier. He participated in a 
large number of engagements, in fact missing but one of 
those in which Mahone’s brigade took part. Among 
these were the battles of French’s Farm, Malvern Hill, 
where he was wounded, disabling him for two months; 
Culpeper Court House, Second Manassas, Fredericks¬ 
burg, Chancellorsville, Crampton’s Gap, Sharpsburg, 
Bristoe Station, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania battles, 
Ashland, Petersburg, the fighting in the trenches before 
Petersburg, the battle of the Crater, two fights at 
Hatcher’s Run, and Reams’ Station. He was a second 


800 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


time wounded at Crampton’s Gap. After the evacua¬ 
tion of Richmond he was captured on the retreat to 
Appomattox, and sent to Hart’s island, Long Island 
sound, where he was held as a prisoner until July, 1865. 
Since the close of hostilities he has been active in the 
pursuits of peace, and has prospered in the occupation of 
a contractor. By his marriage to Ella Brockett, of Ports¬ 
mouth, in 1872, he has five children living: Mary L., 
William B., James E., Robert P., and Linwood. Mr. 
Wilkins is a descendant of an old colonial family. His 
grandfather, Willis Wilkins, was an officer in the con¬ 
tinental army. 

Lieutenant Bailey P. Williamson, of Raleigh, one of 
the survivors of the Roanoke island battle, entered the 
service in April, 1861, from his native county of Meck¬ 
lenburg, as a private in the cavalry company of Capt. 
T. F. Goode. After about six months’ service with this 
command he was elected first lieutenant of a company of 
infantry, organized in his home county, and commanded 
by Capt. R. C. Overbey, which was assigned to the Sec¬ 
ond North Carolina battalion, Col. Wharton J Green 
He participated in various skirmishes on the Virginia 
peninsula with the cavalry, and was with the forces 
which defended Roanoke island from the assaults of the 
Federal fleet and army in February, 1862. The Second 
battalion reached Roanoke island February 8th, after the 
fight was practically lost, but had a brisk encounter with 
the enemy before they were surrendered Upon being 
exchanged, in August, 1862, he rejoined his battalion, 
but was soon detailed at Raleigh for the manufacture of 
ordnance stores, etc. Occasionally he was called from 
this employment for field service. He has had a success¬ 
ful business career since the close of the war, has served 
three years as chairman of the county board of commis¬ 
sioners, aiding in the inauguration of the new road system, 
and since 1894 has been president of the Raleigh gas 
company. 

Lieutenant Charles R. Wilson, of Durham, a gallant 
soldier of the Fifty-sixth regiment, Gen. M. W. Ran¬ 
som’s brigade, Bushrod Johnson’s division, was born in 
Orange county, March 24, 1838, a son of John W. Wilson 
and a descendant of one of the colonial families. He was 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


801 


educated at Cedar Grove, and prior to the war was en¬ 
gaged in farming. In May, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
D of the Fifty-sixth regiment, North Carolina troops, at 
that time organized and drilled with the regiment at 
Camp Mangum. He was identified with the career of 
the regiment during its service in eastern North Caro¬ 
lina, protecting the Confederate channels of communica¬ 
tion and driving back the numerous parties of raiders 
sent out from the Federal posts on the coast. In the 
course of this service he took part in the actions at Gum 
Swamp, at Wellington on the Weldon railroad, at Suffolk, 
Va., and in the vicinity of New Bern, besides a great 
many other skirmishes, which have not been given an 
important place in history. In the battle of Plymouth he 
was severely wounded, and being carried to the rear 
during the action, was taken up in a wagon by a friend 
and conveyed to Tarboro, where he lay in hospital for 
eight months. Rejoining his command, he served under 
Beauregard at Drewry’s bluff and on the Bermuda Hun¬ 
dred line, and was nine months with Bushrod Johnson’s 
division in the Petersburg trenches. In the spring of 
1865 he was taken prisoner at Dinwiddie Court House, 
and was held at Johnson’s island for a period of two 
months and twenty days. Mr. Wilson entered the serv¬ 
ice in the rank of lieutenant and served in that capacity 
throughout the war. He was a gallant and capable 
officer. When the soldiers of the South resumed the 
vocations of peace, he returned to the farm and followed 
agriculture until 1885, when he made his home in Dur¬ 
ham. He was married, in July, 1861, to Lucy M., 
daughter of George Nicholls. 

Major James W. Wilson, of Morgan ton, N. C., was 
born in Granville county, the son of Rev. Alexander 
Wilson, D. D., a native of Belfast, Ireland, and a grad¬ 
uate of the university of Dublin, who died in 1871, after 
a celebrated career in this country as an educator. Major 
Wilson was educated at the Chapel Hill university, 
where he received a master’s degree in 1852. Subse¬ 
quently he was connected with the engineering corps of 
the Western North Carolina railroad, under R. E. Rodes, 
afterward a major-general in the Confederate army. In 
April, 1861, he was married to Louise Erwin, of McDow¬ 
ell county, and almost immediately afterward he began 


802 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the organization of a company, of which he was elected 
captain and which was assigned to the Sixth regiment, 
North Carolina troops, commanded by Col. Charles F. 
Fisher, president of the North Carolina railroad. His 
company was organized in the Haw River region of Ala¬ 
mance county, where Captain Wilson had spent his boy¬ 
hood days, and was distinguished for its esprit du corps . 
Fisher’s regiment was the first to re-enlist for the war 
and Wilson’s was the first company of the regiment to 
take this patriotic obligation. Captain Wilson was in 
battle at First Manassas, where Colonel Fisher was killed, 
and remained in that vicinity until the spring of 1862, 
when he participated in the engagements at Williams¬ 
burg and Seven Pines and the Seven Days’ campaign 
before Richmond. He subsequently took part in the 
battles of Second Manassas, at Harper’s Ferry was 
detailed to bring up the artillery to the summit of Mary¬ 
land heights, and at Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg did 
gallant duty. Soon afterward he was appointed to the 
staff of General Ramseur, and in this capacity he served 
at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. After taking part 
in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court 
House and Cold Harbor and the battles before Peters¬ 
burg, until the fall of 1864, he was put in charge of 
transportation, at Morganton, N. C., and at the same 
time was appointed superintendent of the Western North 
Carolina railroad by Governor Vance. In 1876 he was 
elected president of this railroad company by a board of 
directors appointed by Governor Vance, and in 1880 
became chief engineer under the Richmond & Danville 
railroad management. The line of the Western North 
Carolina railroad, from Old Fort to the western portal of 
the Swananoa tunnel, winding as it does through the 
steeps of the Blue ridge mountains, is a triumph of engi¬ 
neering skill in great part due to the genius of Major 
Wilson. Though Mr. McCalla first projected the way, it 
was Wilson who overcame all the difficulties, and is justly 
entitled to the credit for the magnificent result. In 1887 
he became chief engineer of the Knoxville, Cumberland 
Gap & Louisville railroad, which he held until 1891, 
when he was made chairman of the railroad commission 
of North Carolina. At present he is interested in manu¬ 
facturing at Weldon and resides in a beautiful home at 
Morganton. He has several times represented his 



R. E. WILSON 






















* 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 803 

county in the legislature, is a member of the executive 
committee, of the board of trustees of the State university, 
and was president of the Western North Carolina hospital 
from 1887 to 1891. 

^ Major Reuben Everett Wilson, of Salem, a crippled 
Confederate veteran, who has worn the gray ever since 
1861, had a particularly noteworthy career in the mil¬ 
itary service of the South. He was born in that part of 
Stokes county, now called Yadkin, in 1841, and entered 
the service May 12, 1861, as a member of the Yadkin 
Gray Eagles, a volunteer organization which was sent to 
Danville and mustered in as a part of the Eleventh vol¬ 
unteers, later known as the Twenty-first regiment, North 
Carolina troops. At the reorganization this regiment had 
twelve companies, and Companies A and B, to the for¬ 
mer of which Major Wilson then belonged with the rank 
of lieutenant, were made the nucleus of the First North 
Carolina battalion of sharpshooters. This organization 
was preserved throughout the war, though it served, 
whenever needed, attached to various brigades of Ewell’s 
corps, and at the end Mr. Wilson was in command with 
the rank of major. The battalion participated in no less 
than twenty-six battles during the war: Bull Run, First 
Manassas, First Winchester, Cross Keys, Cold Harbor, 
Chaffin’s Farm, Slaughter’s Mountain, Hazel River, 
Manassas Junction, Second Manassas, Chantilly, Har¬ 
per’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, the Wilderness, Second Winchester, Spottsylvania 
Court House, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Batchelder’s Creek, 
Warsaw, N. C., Newtown, Hatcher’s Run, Petersburg, 
and Battery 45, before Petersburg—and Major Wilson was 
in many of them. He was wounded in the leg and arm 
at Hazel River, and in his last fight received a severe 
wound in the foot, which caused its amputation after the 
war. His battalion had been employed during the win¬ 
ter seasons in western North Carolina, and Virginia for 
the purpose of intercepting deserters, and on the charge 
of having shot some of these, he was re-arrested after his 
parole at Appomattox, and sent to the Virginia penitenti¬ 
ary, where, and at Raleigh penitentiary, he was held until 
December, 1865, the only other Confederates imprisoned 
at that time being President Davis and Major Gee, of 
Florida. Finally, on being given a trial, he was dis- 

Nc n 



v 


804 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


charged. Since then Major Wilson has been a citizen of 
Winston, and after a long business career is now retired 
from active life. Our subject has now in his possession 
the flag of his company, which he treasures above all else. 
This flag was made of silk, contributed from the silk 
dresses of the young ladies of Yadkin county, N. C. 

James Madison Winston, of Franklin county, a veteran 
of the Fifteenth regiment, North Carolina troops, was 
born in the county where he now resides, March 31, 1840, 
and was there reared and educated. His military service 
began on June 3, 1861, as a private in Company C, Fif¬ 
teenth North Carolina infantry. On being ordered to 
Virginia, he served on the peninsula and shared the dis¬ 
tinguished duty of his regiment in the fight at Dam 
No. 1 on the Yorktown lines, April 16, 1862, where his 
colonel, Robert M. McKinney, was killed. The courage 
and determined fighting of the regiment were highly com¬ 
mended by General Magruder, under whose general com¬ 
mand the operations in that quarter were conducted. 
His next battle was at South mountain, during the cam¬ 
paign in Maryland, where his regiment, in Gen. T. R. R. 
Cobb’s brigade, lost heavily. In the bloody battle of 
Sharpsburg he was also in an important part of the field, 
in active fighting, as well as at Shepherdstown. At 
Fredericksburg he fought in J. R. Cooke’s brigade on 
Marye’s hill. Other engagements in which he took part 
were Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill and Reams’ Station. 
After fighting in the trenches, during the siege of Peters¬ 
burg, he was captured April 2, 1865, on the abandonment 
of the Confederate lines, and was taken to Point Look¬ 
out, where he was held until finally paroled, June 22, 
1865. Throughout his career he fully sustained the hon¬ 
orable fame of his regiment and the high reputation of 
the Confederate soldier. Since the war he has mainly 
been engaged in farming, with considerable success, and 
now makes his home at Youngsville. He was married, 
in 1866, to Elizabeth Wilson, who died in 1875, and in 
1882 to Ida T. Ezell, of Granville. His children living 
are five sons and three daughters. 

Joseph A. Witherspoon, of Newton, N. C., was born in 
Catawba county, October 1, 1843, and enlisted from that 
county in July, 1862, as a private in Company E of the 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 805 

Fifty-seventh North Carolina regiment, Col. A. C. God¬ 
win. With the gallant record of this command he was 
thoroughly identified until the close of hostilities. He 
participated in the successful and brilliant charge of the 
regiment at Fredericksburg, on the Bowling Green road, 
was in the battle of Chancellorsville, where General Hoke 
commanded the brigade, shared in the defeat ot Milroy 
at Winchester, at Gettysburg took part in the bloody fight 
of the first day, was among the heroes who won the 
splendid victory at Plymouth, N. C., defended Peters¬ 
burg against Butler, with Early marched through Mary¬ 
land and fought before the forts at Washington, was in 
the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864, and afterward 
fought in the trenches at Petersburg. During the daring 
attack upon the Federal works on Hare’s hill, March 25, 
1865, he was captured. Previously he had had the same 
experience, having fallen into the enemy’s hands on the 
Rappahannock river in the fall of 1863, which resulted 
in two months’ imprisonment at Point Lookout, and he 
now made another unpleasant visit at that place, which did 
not end until June 29, 1865. Upon being paroled he 
returned to his home and engaged in farming, which he 
has followed with much success. During the past five 
years he has held the office of storekeeper and gauger in 
the United States internal revenue service. 

Cyrus H. Wolfe, of Mecklenburg county, a veteran of 
the Fifty-third regiment, North Carolina troops, was born 
in the county of which he is now a resident, February 
18, 1842, the son of John and Eliza M. (Howie) Wolfe. 
His parents were both natives of Union county, N. C., 
his father’s family being from Pennsylvania and origin¬ 
ally of Irish origin, his mother of Scotch descent. Three 
sons of these parents, besides Cyrus, were in the Confed¬ 
erate service, two of whom, Elam and Henry, were killed, 
the former at Hanover Court House, the latter at Gettys¬ 
burg. William L., who survived, is a resident of Meck¬ 
lenburg county. Cyrus H. enlisted in March, 1862, in 
Company B of the Fifty-third regiment, Daniel’s bri¬ 
gade, and was with this gallant command throughout its 
distinguished career to the end of the struggle. After 
the battle of Gettysburg he became a member of the 
regimental band and served in that capacity during the 
remainder of the war, from the Rapidan to the James, 

Nc 75 


806 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


about Petersburg, and thence to Appomattox, where he 
was surrendered. Then returning to Mecklenburg 
county, he gave his attention to agriculture, his present 
occupation. He is a member of Mecklenburg camp, and 
for twenty years has served as magistrate. He has six 
children living by his marriage, in 1867, to Jennie, 
daughter of James McHunter, of Huntersville. Her 
family is one of the oldest in the county. The children 
are: Sue Eliza, who married Dr. J. McDeamond; 
Blanche Maria, married D. C. More; John McKnight, 
a graduate of Davidson college; Harlan, a graduate of 
the Charlotte commercial college; Myrtle M., a student 
in the Charlotte female college, and Flynn, yet in school. 
They have lost two sons, both promising youths, who at 
the time of death were students in military schools. 

James H. Wood, a prosperous farmer of Franklin 
county, and a survivor of the Sixty-sixth regiment, North 
Carolina State troops, was born in the county of which 
he is now a prominent citizen, in the year 1840. He 
entered the military service as a private in a volunteer 
company, which became Company B of the Sixty-sixth 
regiment, in December, 1861, and was on duty with his 
command in the State during the next two years. In 
the fall of 1863 his regiment, under the command of Col. 
A. Duncan Moore, became a part of the brigade organ¬ 
ized by Gen. James G. Martin, and went into camp for 
drill near Wilmington, and subsequently participated in 
the operations under Major-General Hoke. In May, 
1864, he was with his brigade under General Whiting, 
taking part in Beauregard’s famous defense of the Ber¬ 
muda Hundred line against Butler. On May 20th, at the 
Howlett house, under the division command of D. H. 
Hill, the Sixty-sixth was the center of the brigade line 
and won the admiration of all by its coolness in halting 
and dressing on its colors under fire, when it was found 
too far in advance. After this the brigade was in Gen¬ 
eral Hoke’s division, and at Cold Harbor, Private Wood 
was one of the heroes of the Sixty-sixth who held the 
line against repeated assaults, although the Virginia 
forces on their immediate right were driven back. Here 
the regiment lost its colonel, the gallant Moore. Private 
Wood fought through the June battles before Petersburg, 
continued on the Petersburg and Richmond lines until 


C ONFEDERA TE MI LIT A R Y HIS TOR Y. 


807 


December, and then, under the brigade command of 
General Kirkland, participated in the attempted relief of 
Fort Fisher. He was in the gallant fight at Wise’s fork 
and the last battle of Johnston’s army at Bentonville, 
and was surrendered at Greensboro. Since then Mr. 
Wood has been successfully engaged in farming in 
Franklin county. By his marriage, April 8, 1878, to 
Miss Pemy Smith, of Wilson county, who died in 1895, he 
has four children living: James Franklin, William Wil¬ 
son, Carrie Barnes, and Mary Lily. 

James K. Wood, of Oxford, N. C., a veteran of the 
naval service of the Confederate States, was born at 
Oxford July 31, 1844, a son of James M. Wood, who was 
a member of the Senior reserves of North Carolina and 
is yet living (1898) at Berea, Granville county. In 1862 
Mr. Wood entered the Confederate States service on 
board the ironclad North Carolina, and was on duty with 
this vessel about two years. Subsequently he was at¬ 
tached to the ironclad Raleigh, under the command of 
Lieut. Pembroke Jones. He was on board the Raleigh 
when she steamed out of Cape Fear river, in May, 1864, 
escorting blockade-runners. She drove several Federal 
vessels out to sea, but on her return up the river stuck 
upon the bar and went to pieces. After this Mr. Wood 
was on duty on a battery below Fort Fisher, on the North 
Carolina until she went to pieces, later in the Battery 
Cameron, near Wilmington, and after the evacuation of 
that city was on duty at Drewry’s bluff until the aban¬ 
donment of the Confederate capital. He was a member 
of the party under command of Col. John Taylor 
Wood, which, in the early part of February, 1864, made 
a night assault upon the United States steamer Under¬ 
writer in the Neuse river, at New Bern, N. C. The sur¬ 
prise and capture of this Federal vessel was one of the 
most daring exploits of the war and elicited a joint res¬ 
olution of thanks from the Confederate Congress. Since 
the close of hostilities Mr. Wood has been very success¬ 
fully engaged in business at Oxford, and is a highly re¬ 
spected and influential citizen. 

William P. Wootten, of Wilson, N. C., a devoted sol¬ 
dier of the Confederacy, was born in Wayne county in 
1844, and was reared from the age of twelve years at Wil- 


808 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


son, by his widowed mother. He entered the service in 
April, 1861, as a private in Company F, Fourth regi¬ 
ment, North Carolina State troops. The regiment was 
re-enlisted in June, 1861, under Col. George B. Ander¬ 
son, and, under his training became one of the best in 
the army of Northern Virginia. Private Wootten served 
with the regiment at Yorktown and Williamsburg, and 
at Seven Pines, received a wound in the left arm which 
disabled him for three months. He then took part in the 
battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, three days 
of fighting at Gettysburg, and the Bristoe campaign. 
After going through the battles of the Wilderness, he 
was frightfully wounded at Spottsylvania Court House, 
a shot plowing through his left thigh, leaving a wound 
twelve inches long. He was at home disabled for about 
104 days, and when he returned to the field, found his 
command on the Petersburg lines. He went with the 
reinforcements to Early and fought at Winchester, Sep¬ 
tember 19, 1864, and was captured and confined at Point 
Lookout until November, when he was exchanged at 
Fort Pulaski, Ga. Again returning to the field, he 
served in the Petersburg trenches, and on the retreat, 
fought at High Bridge, where he was severely wounded 
in the right thigh by an explosive bullet. He was carried 
in an ambulance to Appomattox and there paroled. He 
did not recover from this last wound for four months. 
During the last two years of the war Mr. Wootten held 
the rank of sergeant. Since then he has been equally 
devoted and persistent in the occupations of peace, and 
is now one of the prosperous business men of Wilson. 
He was married, in 1866, to Mary Polk, daughter of 
Thomas Perry, of the Confederate States army, and they 
have three children: Edwin R., Charles D., and George R. 
A brother of the foregoing, John H. Wootten, served in 
the North Carolina cavalry and lost his life at Petersburg, 
leaving a wife, whose maiden name was Louisa Sykes, 
and three children: John, Carrie and Anna. 

Lieutenant Joshua Granger Wright, a prominent busi¬ 
ness man of Wilmington, N. C., and a native of that 
city, born in 1840, is the only survivor of four brothers 
who served in the cause of Southern independence as 
members of the army of Northern Virginia. He first 
enlisted for military duty in the spring of 1862, becom- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


809 


mg the orderly-sergeant of an independent cavalry com¬ 
pany. But he was with this command not more than 
four or five weeks when he became a member of the First 
North Carolina infantry, which had been on duty in Vir¬ 
ginia since July, 1861. In this regiment he was commis¬ 
sioned first lieutenant of Company E. The regiment 
was part of Ripley’s brigade, D. H. Hill’s division, and 
served with great credit in the battles of Boonsboro or 
South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and Chan- 
cellorsville, during Lieutenant Wright’s connection with 
it. At the last battle, while participating in the gallant 
assault by Jackson’s corps, he was seriously wounded, a 
shot passing through his left hip. This caused his entire 
disability until the spring of 1864, when he attempted 
to re-enter the service, but soon found it impossible to 
undertake duty on the field. Then returning to Wil¬ 
mington, he was assigned to duty in the office of the 
provost-marshal for several months. He made two more 
attempts to serve in the field, without success, the last 
bringing him to the vicinity of Raleigh en route to Lee’s 
army, when he received the news of its surrender. The 
brothers of Lieutenant Wright in the service were James 
Allen Wright, captain of Company I, First North Caro¬ 
lina regiment, killed at Gaines’ Mill, 1862; Thomas 
H. Wright, who was orderly-sergeant of a company of 
the Thirty-seventh North Carolina (Col. W. M. Barbour), 
was fatally wounded at the Wilderness, May, 1864, and 
died in hospital at Richmond; and Adam E. Wright, 
who served as surgeon in the Confederate army during 
the entire war, under Surg.-Gen. Edward Warren. 

Henry Lawson Wyatt, the first Confederate soldier to 
be killed in battle, was a private of the Edgecombe 
Guards, Company A, First regiment, North Carolina vol¬ 
unteers. He was born in Richmond, Va., February 
12, 1842, the son of Isham and Lucinda Wyatt, who 
removed to Pitt county, N. C., in 1856. Young Wyatt 
was one of the first to enlist under the governor’s 
call of April, 1861, abandoning his work as a carpenter 
at Tarboro to become a private in the Edgecombe Guards, 
under Capt. John L. Bridgers. Fifty-four days after 
he was mustered in he was killed in battle, at the age of 
twenty years, and was buried near the foot of the Corn¬ 
wallis monument, Yorktown, Va. On the Northern side 


810 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


the battle of Big Bethel was made memorable by the 
death of the gallant Major Winthrop at the head of his 
men. This famous engagement of June io, 1861, so far 
as Confederate infantry was concerned, was fought mainly 
by the First North Carolina regiment, under its gallant 
officers, Col. D. H. Hill, Lieut.-Col. Charles C. Hill, and 
Maj. James H. Lane. Near the close of the fight, after 
the enemy was worsted, Colonel Hill asked Captain 
Bridgers to have a house burned in their front, between 
the lines, which he feared would be used as a shelter by 
the enemy. The captain called for five volunteers, who 
promptly stepped forward, and jumping over the low 
breastworks, started on a run for the house, Corp. George 
W. Williams leading, followed in order by Thomas 
Fallon, John H. Thorp, Henry L. Wyatt, and R. H. 
Bradley. Upon observing this, shots were fired upon 
the squad by the rear guard of the enemy in the woods to 
our left front. All the party fell to the ground, as they 
had been drilled to do for protection, but Wyatt dropped 
with a mortal wound through the head. He did not 
move again, though he did not cease to breathe until he 
was put in the ambulance to return to Yorktown that 
night, some four or five hours after he was shot. After 
Wyatt fell, the squad was ordered back and the house 
was burned by shelling it. A life-size painting of this 
young hero is now among the treasures of the library of 
the capitol of the State which is honored by his memory. 

Colonel James M. Wynn, a gallant cavalry soldier of 
the North Carolina troops, was born at Barfields, Hert¬ 
ford county, October 12, 1834. He was educated at St. 
Paul’s college, Long Island, N. Y., and at St Timothy’s 
hall, a military school near Baltimore, Md., where he was 
a schoolmate of Fitzhugh Lee. His education was com¬ 
pleted at the university of North Carolina. In the 
spring of 1861 he entered enthusiastically into the work 
of organizing the military forces of the State, and raised 
in Hertford county a portion of a company, the other 
portion being raised in Gates county by John Booth, of 
which the latter was elected captain and he first lieuten¬ 
ant. This was known as Company C, Second North Car¬ 
olina cavalry, and went into camp of instruction at 
Kittrell. Lieutenant Wynn retained that rank about two 
years, but during much of that time had command of 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


811 


his squadron, both captains being' disabled by wounds 
received within a few days of each other, and from which 
they never fully recovered. In the spring of 1863 he was 
promoted to captain, and soon after was commissioned 
colonel and assigned to command of the Fifteenth 
cavalry battalion, North Carolina State troops, the rank 
in which he served during the remainder of the war. A 
great part of his service was on special or detached duty. 
Among the battles in which he participated were 
Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, and he was with Long- 
street when he invested Suffolk, Va. He was selected to 
lead the charge at Washington, N. C., and in many skir¬ 
mishes evinced the traits of a gallant soldier. After the 
surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, he repaired 
to Franklin ton, where his family had taken refuge, and 
in the following November he took up his residence on 
his plantation, “Petty’s Shore,’’ on the Chowan river, 
in Hertford county. In January, 1874, he made his resi¬ 
dence at Murfreesboro, and ten years later established a 
mercantile business there, which he still manages in 
addition to his agricultural interests. While still in the 
service he was elected to the State senate of 1862-63, and 
during the session of the legislature he spent the winter 
at Raleigh. In February, 1865, he was married to 
Jennie Brown, of King George county, Va. Their chil¬ 
dren living are, Mary Waller, Jennie Brown, Thomas 
Buckner, Lucy Donnally, John Southall, William Douglas 
and Maude Louise. 

Charles W. Yates, of Wilmington, was born in Guilford 
county, N. C., in 1839, and removing to Rockingham 
county in i860, there enlisted in 1862, in an independent 
cavalry company organized from several counties, which 
became Company E of the Forty-first regiment, North 
Carolina troops. During nearly the whole of his service 
he acted as courier for Col. John A. Baker and his suc¬ 
cessor, Col. Roger Moore. Among the cavalry engage¬ 
ments in which he took part were those at New Bern, 
Kinston, Hanover Court House, Reams’ Station, Ash¬ 
land, Chaffin’s farm, Drewry’s bluff and Petersburg. 
He was slightly wounded in the skirmish near Kinston, 
and just after the fall of New Bern in June, 1862, was 
captured and imprisoned in a jail at that place several 
months, and afterward held nearly two months at Gov- 


812 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


ernor’s island and Fort Delaware, then being exchanged. 
During the retreat to Appomattox Court House he was 
captured in the fight at Namozine church, April 6th, and 
after that was a prisoner of war at Point Lookout until 
June, 1865. Mr. Yates has been in business at Wilming¬ 
ton since 1870, and has served as alderman of the city. 

Major Robert S. Young, of the Seventh regiment, 
North Carolina troops, killed while on duty at Petersburg, 
Va., was born at Concord, Cabarrus county, January 20, 
1821, the son of Joseph and Mary (Simonton) Young. 
After his education had been completed at Bingham’s 
high school, he gave his attention to the management of 
his plantations in North Carolina and Texas, until 1861, 
when he returned from the latter State at the alarm of 
war and organized Company B of the Seventh North 
Carolina regiment, in May and June. Elected captain at 
the organization of his company, he led his command to 
the camp of instruction at Graham, and thence to the 
coast, where his regiment was assigned to the brigade of 
General Branch, and participated in the battle of New 
Bern. In May, 1862, Branch’s brigade was ordered to 
Virginia and attached to the army of Northern Virginia, 
in which it had a splendid career. At the battle of 
Gaines’ Mill, Captain Young was distinguished, leading 
his men in a gallant charge at a critical moment, and 
Colonel Campbell being killed in the same fight, he was 
promoted major. During the Maryland campaign he was 
taken sick, and left at Frederick City, where he was cap¬ 
tured by the enemy. He was imprisoned at Fort Dela¬ 
ware until the following spring, when he returned home, 
his health so much impaired that he was no longer fit for 
duty in the field. About a year later he was appointed 
inspector-general on the staff of Gen. R. F. Hoke, with 
whom he served at Drewry’s bluff, Cold Harbor and 
Petersburg, until killed July 8, 1864, by a Federal sharp¬ 
shooter, near the iron bridge over the Appomattox, near 
Petersburg. By his first marriage Major Young had one 
son, John Phifer Young, born July 2, 1845, who, at the age 
of fifteen, entered the military institute at Charlotte, aud 
in the following spring went to Raleigh with the cadets 
and served as a drill-master until Company B of the 
Seventh regiment was organized, when he became first 
sergeant, and was soon promoted to brevet second lieuten- 


CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 


813 


ant. After participating in the battle of New Bern he 
accompanied his brigade to Virginia, and was captured 
in the battle of Frayser’s Farm, but soon afterward ex¬ 
changed, so that he was enabled to participate in the 
Manassas and Maryland campaigns with promotion to 
second lieutenant. After the battle of Fredericksburg, 
upon the resignation of his ranking officers, he was pro¬ 
moted captain, the capacity in which he had served for 
some time previous. When commissioned he was but sev¬ 
enteen years and eight months old, and it is believed that 
he was the youngest captain in the Confederate States 
service. In the first day’s fighting under Jackson at Chan- 
cellorsville he was distinguished for bravery, and was 
given the honor of conducting to headquarters 250 prison¬ 
ers, captured by his regiment, but he survived the loss 
of his great commander but one day, falling in the des¬ 
perate battle of Sunday, May 3d. Major Young’s second 
marriage, December 8, 1846, was to Sarah Virginia Bur¬ 
ton, who was born September 2, 1827, in Lincoln county, 
daughter of Alfred Moore Burton, a lawyer, and his wife 
Elizabeth, daughter of John Fulenwider, a native of 
Switzerland. Her grandfather was Robert Burton, a 
colonel of Washington’s army, and member of the con¬ 
tinental congress, two of whose brothers were killed in 
the battle of Princeton. Mrs. Young is now living at 
Charlotte, and has five children living, one of whom, 
Alfred Burton Young, served as a courier for Major-Gen¬ 
eral Hoke and now resides at Concord. Mrs. Elizabeth 
Williams Hoyle, a sister of Mrs. Young, who lives with 
her, lost her only son in the Confederate service, Alfred 
E. Hoyle, a private of Company K, Twenty-third regi¬ 
ment, who was killed in the battle of Seven Pines. 






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